Anyone who had written Johannes Vetter off this year will be hastily revising their predictions ahead of the IAAF World Championships in Doha as the German showed some of his very best form in the javelin in Bad Kostritz on Friday (23) evening.
A succession of injuries - including a calf strain on the eve of the German Championships in Berlin - had limited Vetter to just two competitive appearances prior to Bad Kostritz but the reigning world champion was able to take six throws for the first time in a competition this year, highlighted by a season’s best of 89.28m on his first attempt.
'There is still a lot of room for improvement, and I am glad that I was able to complete six attempts today,' Vetter told Leichtathletik.de after the competition.
Vetter produced four valid throws during the course of the competition, including a fourth round throw of 87.26m and two more throws in excess of 85 metres.
Thomas Rohler was second with 81.51m but the reigning Olympic and European champion was treating the competition primarily as a training session.
Vetter moves up to third on the 2019 world list with 89.28m behind his teammate Andreas Hofmann (89.65m) and Estonia’s Magnus Kirt, the only thrower to surpass the 90-metre line this year with 90.61m.