JUlian Weber first put his hands in front of his face, then the new European javelin champion proudly presented his muscles to the Munich audience. He had finally made it: After two bitter fourth places at the Olympics and the World Championships, Weber fulfilled his dream of a medal at the end of the track and field competitions in Munich. And how.
The Mainzer prevailed with 87.66 meters and thus succeeds Thomas Röhler. “I can not believe it. Munich, you are so horny. Thank you very much,” Weber called into the stadium microphone: “I pulled through and it worked.”
“The goal is clearly a medal”
The Czech Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic/87.28) took silver ahead of Lassi Etelätalo (86.44) from Finland. Andreas Hofmann, who came second at the European Championships in Berlin in 2018, missed the final in tenth place (74.75).
Weber had already secured three more throws in the first round with 83.05 meters – and underlined his ambitions with performance. “The goal is clearly a medal,” said the sports soldier before qualifying.
In Tokyo, 14 centimeters were missing, in the USA 123 centimeters on the podium. In Munich, Weber was certain after the fourth round at the latest that he should be able to win a medal.
But it even became the title. When his javelin flew beyond 87 meters to the cheers of the fans, Weber pushed ahead of Vadlejch, the Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo. Weber got on his knees and pounded his fist on the floor – with joy. “I hope that he has now pulled his pants down,” said national coach Boris Obergföll on ZDF: “Julian did a great job.”
It wasn’t enough on Sunday evening to move into the club of the 90s. But that could be the case soon. Five German javelin throwers have so far surpassed the 90 meter mark. Weber had traveled to Bavaria as Europe’s number three with 89.54 meters.
In Germany, he has finally risen to become the currently greatest javelin hope with the triumph. Röhler, who was eliminated in the qualification, is completely out of shape after a long injury break. The German record holder Johannes Vetter had to cancel his start at the European Championships due to injury.
