Sunday, August 8th, 2021
“Shitty and Cheated”
Coach rages after cousin’s spear drama
Johannes Vetter is unbeatable for months, the German javelin thrower is one of the biggest gold favorites at the Olympic Games. But the Dominator experiences a nightmare of competition. The reasons for this are obvious – or more precisely: on the train, the Vetters camp is certain.
Boris Obergföll, coach of the failed javelin favorite Johannes Vetter, feels “shitty and cheated” after the Olympic competition. The former world class thrower spoke of a “complete inequality of opportunity”. In a disappointing ninth place, Vetter had massive problems with the surface and injured his foot on the second attempt, which ended in a fall, according to Obergföll.
Vetter only reached 82.52 meters, while the Indian Neeraj Chopra was Olympic champion with 87.58 meters. The 2017 world champion traveled to Japan as the throwing dominator after 19 wins in a row and as the only 90-meter thrower of the year. “The surface is good for world records and Olympic records on the track,” said Vetter after the disaster and railed: “It’s just fatal for javelin throwers like me.”
“It is of course absolutely bitter to lay such a kindergarten surface at the Olympic Games,” said Obergföll. You couldn’t put your anger into words. His protégé is considered to be a particularly powerful thrower who relies on a secure footing on the stem. Before the games, Vetter had praised the Mondo surface, but this was replaced at short notice with a high-tech surface for sprinters and runners, explained his 47-year-old coach.
In qualifying, not only Vetter would have had problems with the soft ground. They tried to change something on the spikes and the start-up technique, Obergföll described. The approach area was cooled with numerous ice packs before the medal fight, also at the request of the Vetter faction – but none of this was of any use to the top favorite from Offenburg. “So the world’s best javelin thrower has been deprived of the chance to win Olympic gold,” said his trainer.
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