DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Once one of track and field's leading nations, Germany is in an unprecedented slump after failing to win any medals at the world championships.
Less than a year out from the Paris Olympics, Germany had one of the largest teams at the championships in Budapest, Hungary, with more than 70 athletes but came home empty-handed after injuries and near-misses.
Javelin thrower Julian Weber nearly got Germany on the medal table at last on the closing night of competition Sunday but Czech rival Jakub Vadlejch knocked him out of the bronze medal position by 88 centimeters (2 feet, 11 inches) on his second-to-last throw.
It could take years for Germany to compete with track and field’s top nations again, German Athletics Association president Jürgen Kessing said Monday.
“We know that this year hasn't gone particularly well. We are not satisfied with that,” he told the MDR Aktuell radio program. “That could possibly continue next year in Paris (at the Olympics).”
Kessing said the association has a target of placing in the top five nations in track and field at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Germany has athletes who could contend for medals at the Paris Olympics next year. Malaika Mihambo is the defending Olympic long jump champion but couldn't defend her world title in Budapest due to a muscle tear. And European decathlon champion Niklas Kaul dropped out part-way through his event in Budapest with an injury.
Robert Harting, who won three world championship discus gold medals from 2009 to 2013, argued German track and field needs a rethink. In a social media post on Sunday, he blamed “mistakes by decision-makers" and a “lack of investment in know-how.”
Heike Drechsler, the 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion in women's long jump, told the dpa news agency Monday that “obviously you can't sugar-coat” the lack of medals but that it wouldn't be fair to criticize individual athletes after several set personal-best results.
For decades, German athletes were a force at the world championships, and a source of controversy when the former East Germany’s Cold War-era doping program across numerous Olympic sports was revealed.
After Germany was reunified, it remained among the sport's leaders, especially in the jumping and throwing events, but Germany's medal count at major championships has declined in recent years. Two medals at last year's world championships was the previous low for a unified German team.
Some other countries are dealing with their own slumps. Next year's Olympic host France only narrowly avoided matching Germany's unwanted record when it managed a silver medal Sunday night in the men's 4x400-meter relay.
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