Andreas Hofmann in the javelin at the German Championships (© Getty Images)
Andreas Hofmann threatened the 90-metre mark to take the javelin showdown at the German Championships which concluded in Nuremberg on Sunday (22).
Competing on the championships' final day, Hofmann set the tone with an 89.55m effort in the first round, a meeting record which sufficed to give the 26-year-old his first national title in what is currently Germany's most fiercely competitive event. Hofmann, who joined the discipline's 90-metre club with a 91.07m throw in August last year, threw beyond 90 metres in three of first four competitions this year, extending his lifetime best to 92.06m.
Olympic champion Thomas Rohler bounced back from a sluggish first half of the competition to come closest, unleashing an 88.09m throw in the final round to take second.
Johannes Vetter, the world champion, reached 87.83m to finish third, with Julian Weber, another 88-metre thrower, reaching 84.62m for fourth.
On the women's side, it's the long jump that's generally close. That proved the case as well on Sunday with Malaika Mihambo taking the victory with a 6.72m leap, just ahead of Alexandra Wester and Julia Gerter, who reached 6.69m and 6.68m, respectively.
Strong results were produced across almost the entire throws programme.
Christina Schwanitz won Friday's shot put with a 20.06m season's best to collect her sixth title, winning by nearly two metres. Two-time world champion David Storl reached 21.26m to collect his eighth.
In the discus, Olympic champion Christoph Harting secured the men's title with a 66.98m throw in the first round, before sitting out the rest of the competition. Daniel Jasinski and Robert Harting were second and third, reaching 64.82m and 63.92m respectively.
Shanice Craft won the women's title with a 62.91m effort, while behind her, just 10 centimetres separated the next three finishers: Nadine Muller was second with 62.73m and Anna Ruh third at 62.65m, just two centimetres ahead of Claudine Vita.
Mateusz Przybylko, the world indoor bronze medallist, topped a 2.31m season's best to win the high jump.
Among the chief highlights on the track, world bronze medallist Pamela Dutkiewicz clocked a championship record of 12.69 to secure the 100m hurdles title title. Cindy Roleder, Germany's other standout sprint hurdler, bowed out in the heats with after a false start.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen won the 1500m in 4:06.34 ahead of Elena Burkard, who clocked a 4:06.51 personal best and Gesa Felicitas Krause won the steeplechase in 9:34.59.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
