At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Sophie Weißenberg had to put up with a small setback at the start of the second day of competition, but is still within striking distance of the bronze medal.
After five disciplines and a moderate long jump of 6.10 m, the 25-year-old is still fifth with 4,757 points. In the fight for medals, she now needs strong performances in the last two disciplines, javelin throw and 800 m. Weißenberg is 42 points behind in third place.
Vanessa Grimm continues to do well
After the long jump (also 6.10 m), Vanessa Grimm (Königstein) took 13th place in the overall standings with 4,479 points. In the first javelin throw group, she then threw the season’s best distance of 42.08 m and rejoiced: “Super awesome! The long jump was exciting, I was still a bit tired. But the 6.10 m was totally fine. And in the javelin throw I feel then a load fell from my heart. I’m very happy with the best performance of the season.”
For the 26-year-old, 2023 is a year of transition after a partial cruciate ligament tear with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris. The final 800 m run (6 p.m.) is still pending for them in Budapest.
Carolin Schäfer ended her heptathlon before the 200 m on Saturday evening (08/19/2023) because of knee problems. In 2017, the woman from Frankfurt provided the last German heptathlon medal so far with silver at the World Championships.
Exciting duel at the top
Meanwhile, the fight for gold is developing more exciting than expected. Top favorite Anna Hall (USA) lost the lead after the long jump to Katarina Johnson-Thompson. The British ex-world champion towered above with 6.54 m. Taliyah Brooks (USA) experienced a drama, who was passed far down from fourth place after three invalid attempts. Vice World Champion Anouk Vetter (Netherlands) is in seventh place with 4,638 points. She is particularly strong in the javelin throw.
Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) is not at the start due to injury.