Jessica Schilder is in the shape of her life. The Volendamse became European champion in the shot put section tonight in Munich. The athlete also broke the limit of twenty meters. And that while her PR at the beginning of this year was still at 18.69 meters.
In southern Germany, 23-year-old Schilder shot the bullet to a distance of 20.24 meters, a new Dutch record. “It is bizarre. I did not expect this distance. I have no words for it,” Schilder told the NOS camera.
She was 42 centimeters ahead of the Portuguese Auriol Dongmo. Jorinde van Klinken took the bronze with a distance of 18.94 meters.
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Time after time, Schilder improved her own performance, thanks to an adjustment in her turning technique. She broke the Dutch record no less than seven times. In total, due to this spectacular progression, the bullet now lands almost one and a half meters further on the ground.
Earlier this year she won a bronze medal at the World Indoor and Outdoor World Championships. A week and a half ago she came to 19.84 meters in the Diamond League in Chorzów, Poland.
It is the first time that a Dutchman has won gold in the shot put. The women never even managed to get on the podium. In the men’s 2012 Rutger Smith stayed on silver.