The Olympic champion discus throwing brothers, who have been at war for years, have reconciled: Robert and Christoph Harting have “cleared up their misunderstandings”. The parents in particular are relieved.
The Olympic champion brothers Robert and Christoph Harting have reconciled after five years of strife and resentment and celebrated Christmas together again. “I invited Christoph to my house, we were together with my wife Julia, our twins, our parents and grandma Renate,” said Robert Harting of “Bild am Sonntag” in a double interview. The 2012 Olympic discus champion in London is six years older than his brother Christoph, who surprisingly won gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
The native Lusatian hadn’t exchanged a single word for five years, and their parents in particular suffered from the brotherly quarrel. “We didn’t even say ‘hello’ to each other,” reported 31-year-old Christoph Harting – not even at Christmas. “No, we avoided each other.”
Christmas together for the first time since 2016
A joint TV appearance in March apparently broke the ice and initiated reconciliation. For the first time since 2016, the two celebrated Christmas together again. “I was really looking forward to it. It is a great relief, especially for our parents, to see us together again now. They, like all of us, suffered a lot from this situation,” said Christoph Harting, who has won the Olympic Games in Rio disappointed internationally and no longer had great success in the discus ring.
The reconciliation was preceded by open and honest words, as the two Berliners now revealed – and an apology. “At that time we first met alone and talked for almost two hours and later together with the family,” said Robert Harting. “Everyone was allowed to get rid of their worries at the dinner table. With a certain degree of maturity, we cleared up the misunderstandings in which third parties had always contributed and influenced us. And: Above all, we apologized to each other.”
Christoph Harting has also jumped over his shadow after years of irreconcilability. “Two or three things had to be clarified, but otherwise we made sure not to bring the old stories on the table. We just set everything to zero, sort of a reset,” he said.
And the older brother promised: “I’m going to leave Christoph where he is now; in his world, with his rules of life, and we’re doing quite well with that. We don’t let third parties talk us into this anymore,” said 37-year-old Robert Harting .
.
ttn-10