Despite intensive preparations for her oral high school graduation exams, Isabel Weitzel holds her own against the best female hammer throwers

Isabel Weitzel headed to the 13th edition of the International Sparkassen Hammer Throw Meeting in Fränkisch-Crumbach, in southern Hesse, without much confidence; the event has traditionally brought together the national and international elite in hammer throw over Pentecost.

The lack of confidence seemed justified, as preparing for the high school graduation exams in the coming days prevented him from focusing on his hammer throw technique as usual.

However, the student from Steinmühlen, competing for TSV Jahn Treysa, surprised both herself and her coaches on her very first attempt. She demonstrated that she already has a solid grasp of the technique with the 4-kg women’s hammer and, with a throw of 51.32 m, surpassed her personal best by just under a meter. The competition was won by last year’s outstanding champion, Sophie Gimmler of LAZ Saarbrücken, with a throw of 59.65 m. Although Isabel was unable to improve on her distance, she demonstrated in her subsequent attempts that she can already consistently achieve distances around 50 meters.

She was thus able to finish in 6th place at a DLV qualifying meet featuring a top-notch field and earn her first points toward the German Junior Cup.