Betty Heidler of Germany receives the gold medal for winning the Women's Hammer Throw Final (© Getty Images)
Ask questions to World Hammer Throw champion Betty Heidler and the articulate, bright athlete is only to happy to oblige.
But one question the German cannot answer is what prize she would rather have, the Olympic gold in Beijing next year or the retention of her World title in 2009.
The reason is simple. Heidler would, of course, like to land Olympic gold but she also harbours a burning ambition to retain her world crown because they are staged in Berlin, the city where she was born and lived up she was 18.
“It’s both,” she said, when asked, ‘what is her main goal?’
“They are both special events. The Olympic Games is one of the biggest events for a sportsman but Berlin is also very important and a special event for me.”
Family connections
Aged just 24, a baby in hammer throwing terms, the future does indeed appear bright for Heidler, who was aged 23 when she landing the World title in Osaka by just 0.02 from Cuba’s Yipsi Moreno in August.
The Berliner took up athletics aged 14 after a friend decided to join the local athletics club and she followed her. From a sporty family - her mother was a rower and her father a keen footballer - Heidler enjoyed running, jumping and throwing but discovered a flair for the throws and, particularly, the hammer.
“It was good for me to do everything,” she said of trying different events. “But I liked the hammer throw.”
On closer examination, however, Heidler has a strong family connection with track and field. Her great grandfather, Martin Riefstahl, was a high jumper at appeared in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games while her great cousin, Cornelia Oschkenat, won a bronze medal in the 100m Hurdles at the 1987 World Championships.
Heidler’s early promise was recognised and she moved from her native Berlin to Frankfurt to link up with her current coach Michael Deyhle in 2001. Dehyle -who also coaches German international hammer thrower Kathrin Klaas - has intelligently nurtured Heidler and the world champion accepts the move has played a major part in her subsequent success.
“It wasn’t very easy leaving home I was only 17 and a few days later I turned 18, she said of the move to live in western Germany from Berlin. “I can’t say why really works with Michael, it just works. I think my coach has a really good eye.”
Championship breakthrough in Paris, hiatus in Helsinki
Based in a specialist sports school Heidler made her first breakthrough in 2003, throwing beyond 70m for the first time and finishing 11th on her major international championships debut at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.
In 2004 she made her another major step up in her career by finishing fourth in the Olympic final in Athens with a best throw of 72.73m. However, the following season, hampered by a knee injury and technical problems she disappointed at the World Championships in Helsinki and failed to qualify for the final with a modest best throw of 61.91m.
She breached the 75m barrier for the first time in 2006 and improved her German record four times and placed fifth at the European Championships in Gothenburg.
Heidler believes she was taught an invaluable lesson during 2005 and 2006. “I learned to go into all competitions as you would any other and most importantly to have fun.”
After a strong winter training period and with far greater confidence in her technique Heidler went into the World Championships in Osaka in a more relaxed and confident frame of mind.
A second round effort of 74.76m put her control of the competition and she survived a last round assault by Cuba’s Yipsi Moreno to hang on for the victory by a 0.02cm.
“I was a little surprised 74.76m for enough to win because I expected over 75m to win it,” said Heidler. “I really thought Yipsi had won the gold with her last throw.”
Recognition
Since her victory in Osaka, Heidler admitted she is now given far greater recognition by the German public with people regularly stopping her for autographs. She has also given up her job as a policewoman (border police unit) to study a bachelor of law degree, which she hopes will benefit her career when she returns to life in the police after she has retired from hammer throwing.
The German also hopes to have finally put behind her a niggling knee problem which has troubled her since 2005 and is looking forward to an excellent season ahead but Heidler is taking nothing for granted at the Beijing Olympics.
“I know I can win a medal, but it is not a certainty. There are a lot of good girls out there.”
However, in an event where athletes often do not peak until their early 30s Heidler appears to have many more years left at the top, but much longer does she believe she can perform at the highest level?
“I don’t know, I’ve not really thought about the end of my sporting career,” she explained. “I don’t know whether I’ll still be throwing a Hammer when I’m 38. But you can throw in the Hammer until you are 30 to 35, no problem.”
Steve Landells for the IAAF
