German hammer thrower
Betty Heidler (born 14 October 1983) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the hammer throw . She held the world record from 2011 until 2014 with her personal best throw of 79.42 m (260 ft 6 in). She is the 2012 Olympic silver medallist , the 2007 World champion and the 2009 and 2011 World Championship silver medallist . She also finished fourth in the Olympic finals in 2004 and 2016.
Career
She now lives in Frankfurt and is a member of the Eintracht Frankfurt athletics team. She works for the German Federal Police where she is a member of the sports support group and started studying Bachelor of Laws at the Fernuniversität Hagen in 2007.
She put in a dominant performance at the 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing with a winning mark of 72.48 m, beating her nearest rival by more than three metres.[ 2]
Heidler won the inaugural IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge in 2010, finishing at the top of the rankings ahead of Anita Wlodarczyk .[ 3] She won the gold medal at the 2010 European Athletics Championships then went on to take the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics . In May 2011, in Halle, she achieved a new world record in hammer throw, with a result of 79.42 m.[ 4] She began the 2012 season with a series of wins, performing at the Colorful Daegu Meeting , Golden Spike Ostrava , and Prefontaine Classic .[ 5]
Heidler won a medal at the 2012 London Olympics . The event was not without controversy as the referees first failed to correctly measure Heidler's bronze-winning throw.[ 6] She was then later promoted to the silver medal position, after Tatyana Lysenko was disqualified for a doping violation in 2016.
Achievements
Year
Competition
Venue
Position
Notes
Representing Germany
2000
World Junior Championships
Santiago , Chile
19th (q)
52.18 m
2002
World Junior Championships
Kingston , Jamaica
17th (q)
53.82 m
2003
European U23 Championships
Bydgoszcz , Poland
4th
66.49 m
World Championships
Paris , France
11th
65.81 m
2004
Olympic Games
Athens , Greece
4th
72.73 m
World Athletics Final
Szombathely , Hungary
6th
69.65 m
2005
European U23 Championships
Erfurt , Germany
2nd
69.64 m
World Championships
Helsinki , Finland
29th (q)
61.91 m
World Athletics Final
Szombathely, Hungary
6th
69.95 m
2006
European Championships
Gothenburg , Sweden
5th
70.89 m
World Athletics Final
Stuttgart , Germany
1st
75.44 m (CR)
2007
World Championships
Osaka , Japan
1st
74.76 m
2008
Olympic Games
Beijing , China
9th
70.06 m
World Athletics Final
Stuttgart, Germany
5th
69.72 m
2009
Universiade
Belgrade , Serbia
1st
75.83 m (GR)
World Championships
Berlin , Germany
2nd
77.12 m (NR)
World Athletics Final
Thessaloniki , Greece
1st
72.03 m
2010
European Cup Winter Throwing
Arles , France
1st
72.48 m
European Championships
Barcelona , Spain
1st
76.38 m
2011
World Championships
Daegu , South Korea
2nd
76.06 m
2012
European Championships
Helsinki , Finland
17th (q)
65.06 m
Olympic Games
London , Great Britain
2nd
77.13 m
2013
World Championships
Moscow , Russia
18th (q)
68.83 m
2014
European Championships
Zürich , Switzerland
5th
72.39 m
2015
World Championships
Beijing, China
7th
72.56 m
2016
European Championships
Amsterdam, Netherlands
2nd
75.77 m
Olympic Games
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4th
73.71 m
References
External links
International National People