“A little bit scared”
New German throwing prodigy shocks himself
February 26, 2024, 4:40 p.m
Not Johannes Vetter, not Julian Weber – Max Dehning is the German who is setting the javelin throwing world in turmoil. The 19-year-old lets the javelin sail over 90 meters and is completely surprised by it.
Johannes Vetter and Julian Weber were amazed. While the German javelin throwing grandmasters are currently in training camp in South Africa, child prodigy Max Dehning is venturing into new dimensions. At the winter throw in Halle/Saale, Dehning threw a sensational 90.20 meters. That would have been enough for gold at the World Championships last year ahead of the Indian Neeraj Chopra (88.17 meters). Now the teenager is brimming with self-confidence.
“I think the big guys are a bit scared now. They see that something is coming,” said Dehning on Sport1. And the 19-year-old comes with great force. Dehning was the youngest thrower in history to crack the 90-meter mark, the amateur motorcyclist increased his best performance by 11.07 meters, the Leverkusen player is now number one in the world, and he also increased the current national coach’s German U23 best performance Boris Obergföll from 1995 by 1.74 meters.
“Crazy! There’s nothing more you can say about it. Hopefully he stays healthy and can continue to achieve such performances this year,” said German record holder Johannes Vetter (97.76 meters) according to Sport1.
“I have to process it all first.”
With his throw, Dehning not only shocked the competition around Vetter and European champion Weber, but also himself. “Well, I didn’t think it would be 90 meters,” said Dehning, who has increased his best performance by more than ten meters and now is suddenly number one in the world: “I then heard that the throw was something like 90, but I thought the 90 was behind the decimal point. I have to process it all first. The second one was also six meters above my best. “
Dehning said that he “was sick in bed for four days last week.” After that, “I only completed one unit, and it didn’t look so great – nothing worked at all.” And yet he clearly positioned himself for the European Championships in Rome (June 7th to 12th) and the Olympic Games in Paris (July 26th to August 11th).
Dehning had long been known to connoisseurs; he came second at the World and European Junior Championships in the last two years. Weber and Co. now also have him on their list as competitors. The European champion reacted with an “exploding head emoji” on Instagram.