Osaka, Japan – “Franka Dietzsch was my role model yesterday,” said an overjoyed Betty Heidler after taking the women’s Hammer Throw title with a throw of 74.76m. “She inspired me. I thought if she can win this and I can to a day later, that would be huge. And it would be just so great if we meet together tonight with two gold medals.”

At the age of 23 the German, who was born and brought up in Berlin, the venue of the next World Championships in 2009, is still very young for hammer throwing. Five years ago she moved to Frankfurt because training facilities and general conditions were better there. “But now I am looking very forward to already being qualified for the championships in my original hometown.”

Took command early

While Dietzsch had achieved the winning mark with her very first throw a day earlier, Heidler did this with her second.

“My first one was very good as well, but it was a foul. So I just tried to do it again in round two and it worked,” the German record holder said. Last year Heidler had improved the national best a couple of times and it has stood at 76.55m since. “It will be my aim to further improve this, but I cannot say now how far I will be able to throw.”

“After my first throw I had the feeling that this should be far enough to get a medal,” said Heidler, who is, as are a number of other German elite athletes, a member of the German Police Force (border police unit). “But I did not expect to win gold with that at that moment. Then I was surprised that Ivana Brkljacic missed the final cut and was no longer in competition.” When the eventual silver medallist Yipsi Moreno of Cuba had her last throw, it appeared on TV screens that it was a little further than Heidler’s leading mark.

Read more With Hammer Throw triumph, Heidler continues family tradition from iaaf.org