An athletics World Championships without a German medal – that has never happened before. The DLV team presented itself better overall in Budapest than last year in Eugene, but has lost touch with the world leaders. DLV President Jürgen Kessing spoke of the “worst case”. But there is also hope.
zero medals. Sounds devastating. At last year’s World Championships in Eugene, precious metal had only been a historic low twice. Now not a single podium place jumped out for the 70-strong German team. Those responsible in the German Athletics Association (DLV) have to digest that first. “We didn’t come here to go home empty-handed,” said association president Jürgen Kessing.
Weber’s fourth place remains the best placement
The 66-year-old had hoped for a long time on Sunday (08/27/2023) “that Julian might redeem us”. But it did not get to that. On the last day of the competition, javelin thrower Julian Weber’s last hope of a reasonably conciliatory finish was dashed: fourth place again for the European champion, who had been considered one of the few medal contenders in the team, which was stricken by failures.
In Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo, the defending champion had to pass in the long jump, and Eugene’s bronze relay with double European champion Gina Lückenkemper could not compete with the best cast. Sixth place for the sprinters was a very respectable result under the circumstances.
Go left with two German records
Others were also convincing. Like walker Christopher Linke, who set two German records with his two fifth places despite the sweltering heat and high humidity – his time over 20 km would have always been enough for precious metal except in 2003 in Paris.
Or high jumper Tobias Potye, who missed bronze by just one failed attempt after a strong competition. Decathlon shooting star Leo Neugebauer, who snatched the 39-year-old German record from Jürgen Hingsen in June, was even on course for gold after day one and also finished fifth in the end.
Significantly more top 8 finishes than in Eugene
The biggest sporting event in the history of Hungary was a huge festival, the DLV athletes were highly motivated and in most cases they delivered. Joshua Abuaku was the first hurdler over 400 m to reach the final with the best time since Harald Schmid 36 years ago.
U23 European Champion Olivia Gürth was happy about two best performances over 3,000 m obstacle at her World Cup debut, in the final she ran the German U23 record. Sophie Weißenberg missed a medal by 63 points in seventh place in the best heptathlon of her career.
In the end, nine personal bests and eight season bests were recorded, with a total of twelve top eight finishes, five more than in the world title fights in the USA.
Lückenkemper: “Extremely many good performances”
Not a bad record, and that’s how Lückenkemper presented himself to her teammates: “I experienced the German team as very combative, both in the hotel and in the stadium. We had a lot of good performances and achieved times that always led to a medal in previous years would have been enough, but not this year,” said the DLV team captain. “But that doesn’t detract from the performance.”
In fact, real frustration rarely arose. 200m record holder Joshua Hartmann recklessly gambled away in the lead-up and also blundered in the relay when changing – a bitter lesson. 5,000 m runner Sam Parsons fell in the preliminary heat and was inconsolable afterwards, Lückenkemper really wanted to make it to the final, but as a soloist after strong preliminary performances of all things the highlight of the season did not get going.
It wasn’t enough for the big limelight
However, most of the DLV athletes were actually fit to the point and exhausted their potential – it was still not enough for the big limelight. In the middle of the exuberant Budapest World Cup party in the newly built “National Athletics Center”, for which, according to the organizers, almost 95 percent of the contingent had been sold with more than 400,000 tickets, others cheered on the lap of honor, others heard the national anthem.
I can’t remember a better atmosphere at a World Cup.
Great show by Lyles, Duplantis and Co
Above all, US star Noah Lyles, who was the first track and field athlete since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win the world championship triple over 100 m, 200 m and with the relay and is a real guy. But there is still a piece missing from the days of the legendary Jamaican.
The Swedish high-flyer Armand Duplantis, who just barely flew past his own world record, once again impressed with his pole vault show, over 400 m hurdles Norway Express Karsten Warholm refueled for the third world title and the Italian crowd favorite Gianmarco Tamberi let himself be in the high jump carry the fully occupied ranks to their first World Championship title after sharing the Olympic gold.
In the women’s category, two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon from Kenya documented her exceptional position with two gold medals in the 1,500 and 5,000 m and spoke of the motivation provided by her five-year-old daughter. who triumphed over 100 m and with the US relay. Triple jumper Yulimar Rojas from Venezuela recorded her fourth World Championship gold in a row.
Lost the connection to the top of the world
But it doesn’t have to be reaching for the top shelf to find out: “The world elite has developed significantly. Even a German record is not enough for a medal,” says Jörg Bügner. The DLV sports director admitted that in many disciplines they had lost touch with the world leaders, even in those in which Germany was once very successful, such as hammer, discus and javelin.
“In certain routes we didn’t even provide starters, for example in the middle distance. Why are we no longer present there?” puzzled the DLV official, who has been in office for six months.
Kessing: Must go through a jerk Sports Germany go
The competition is not only getting stronger, but also more. 46 countries entered the medal table during the World Cup. “The world class has become much broader,” explained Kessing, who described the World Championships without a medal as the “worst case”. “We are not satisfied with that, that’s clear.”
The head of the association would like support from Berlin and pleaded for the Olympic Games in Germany to end the crisis in German sport. In order to become competitive again, a jolt must go through Sport Germany.
One should put one or two billion into sport for children to make them strong, he demanded. “Sport as a whole has to stand up, raise its voice and fight for it,” added Kessing, also in view of the threat of cuts a year before the Olympic Games in Paris.
Shooting star Neugebauer one of the beacon of hope
Either way, the German athletes want to be back on the podium on the Seine – and the chances are better than it might appear after looking at the medal table in Budapest. Neugebauer, Potye and Weißenberg are fresh hopes, among the best in their field and have gained important experience in Hungary.
“If I stay healthy, then there is no limit,” said college student Neugebauer, who has made an impressive performance development outside of the association measures at the financially strong University of Texas, and Potye also has clear ideas about where he wants to end up in the coming year: “At the top.”
In addition, top athletes such as Mihambo or 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul, who prematurely ended the decathlon in Budapest with a foot injury in view of Paris, could return to the team.
Bügner: “Paris settles accounts”
“It’s a year until the Olympic Games. There are no more excuses. Paris will be settled,” said Bügner, who was committed after the poor performance in Eugene and sees a lot of work ahead of him: “We’re going with a lot Homework. We have to critically question why we are not where we were before.”
You also have to look at the neighbors. Great Britain, the Netherlands – “there are definitely European countries that are successful there. Why don’t we get there?”
We have incredible know-how in this association, but we haven’t got the horsepower on the road yet.
“Giving up is not an option”
The association must find answers quickly and act decisively if it wants to achieve its ambitious goal: to be among the top five nations again by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
After all, the offspring is available. With 23 medals, eight of them gold, the DLV team was by far the most successful delegation at the U20 Junior European Championships. However, in the past, it has often not worked to successfully lead the talents into the adult sector. “You need time,” said Linke, and Bügner is combative: “Giving up is not an option.”