David Storl

David Storl

David Storl in 2011
Personal information
Nationality German
Born 27 July 1990
Rochlitz, Germany
Height 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 122 kg (269 lb)
Sport
Country  Germany
Sport Track and field
Event(s) Shot put
Club LAC Erdgas Chemnitz
Coached by Sven Lang
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 21.97 m
22.73 m (6 kg)

David Storl (born 27 July 1990) is a German track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put. He was successful on the youth and junior athletics circuit, winning gold medals at the World Youth Championships and World Junior Championships. Storl won his first senior medal, a silver, at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships.

He held the world junior record of 22.73 m with the 6 kg shot. His personal best with the senior implement is 21.97 m.

He won the gold medal at the shot put competition at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, and the Silver Medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Storl is one of only nine athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kirani James, Jana Pittman, and Dani Samuels) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.

Career

Storl first became involved in athletics as a child when his grandfather suggested he join the local club, VfL Rochlitzer Berg. Initially a decathlon specialist, the death of his personal coach in 2006 led him to focus exclusively on the shot put and discus throwing events.[1] At the age of 16, he won the gold medal at the 2007 World Youth Championships with a personal best and German under-18 record throw of 21.40 metres (using the lighter 5 kg shot for youths).[2]

The following year he competed with the 6 kg junior implement and won the shot put title at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics with a mark of 21.08 m, which made him the fourth best junior of all time.[1] In 2009, he began using the full senior weight (7.26 kg) in the indoor season and achieved a best of 19.48 m. Returning to the junior 6 kg shot in the outdoor season, he became the first ever junior athlete to throw beyond 22 metres in Mannheim, setting consecutive world junior records of 22.18 m and then 22.34 m.[3] A month later he increased this mark to 22.73 m in Osterode (putting some distance between himself and the Edis Elkasevic's former record of 21.96 m),[4] and went on to win the 2009 European Junior title with a championships record of 22.40 m.[5] Having placed third at the 2009 German Athletics Championships and achieved the senior international "A" standard with a personal best throw of 20.43 m, he was selected for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. He ended his first senior international appearance in 15th place in the qualifying rounds.[6]

The 2010 season was his first as a senior athlete and he was runner-up at the Indoor and Outdoor German Championships.[6] At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships he came seventh while compatriot Ralf Bartels won the bronze. Storl represented Germany at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and managed fourth place. That year he achieved senior personal bests of 20.77 m both outdoors and indoors.[7] He defeated Bartels to win the German indoor title in 2011, but the places were reversed at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, although Storl's silver medal was his first major senior medal.[8][9]

He surpassed the 21-metre mark in Gothenburg in June with a throw of 21.03 m and topped the podium at both the 2011 European Team Championships and 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships, setting championship records of 20.81 m and 20.45 m in the process.[6][10] With Bartels not competing, Storl won his first outdoor senior national title in July.[11] He added to his best mark with a throw of 21.05 m at the Weltklasse hinterm Deich meeting.[12]

On 12 August 2014, Storl won his second successive European Athletics Championships gold medal with a throw of 21.42m.

Achievements

Storl at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Germany
2007 World Youth Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 1st Shot put (5 kg) 21.40 m
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st Shot put (6 kg) 21.08 m
2009 European Junior Championships Novi Sad, Serbia 1st Shot put (6 kg) 22.40 m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 27th (q) Shot put 19.19 m
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 7th Shot put 20.40 m
European Championships Barcelona, Spain 4th Shot put 20.57 m
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 2nd Shot put 20.75 m
European U23 Championships Ostrava, Czech Republic 1st Shot put 20.45 m
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 1st Shot put 21.78 m
2012 World Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 2nd Shot put 21.88 m
European Championships Helsinki, Finland 1st Shot put 21.58 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 2nd Shot put 21.86 m
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 1st Shot put 21.73 m
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 2nd Shot put 21.79 m
European Championships Zurich, Switzerland 1st Shot put 21.41 m
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 1st Shot put 21.23 m

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Landells, Steve (2008-07-08). Storl does it again – IAAF World Junior Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  2. ↑ Arcoleo, Laura (2007-07-11). David Storl grabs first World Youth gold medal in Ostrava. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  3. ↑ Wenig, Jörg (2009-06-15). Germany’s Storl breaks World junior record in the 6 kg Shot Put with 22.34m. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  4. ↑ Wenig, Jörg (2009-07-15). Storl improves World junior Shot Put record to 22.73m. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  5. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2009-07-26). Storl the star as more championship records fall – Euro Jnr Champs, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 David Storl. Leichatletik. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  7. ↑ Storl, David. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  8. ↑ Wenig, Jorg (2011-02-28). Bayer targeting more Long Jump glory – German indoor champs WRAP. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  9. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2011-03-11). Djimou Ida delights with French Pentathlon record in Paris – European Indoor Champs, Day 1. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  10. ↑ Minshull, Phil (2011-07-18). Ukraine’s El-Sheryf shows he’s the new gun in town in the Triple Jump – European U-23 Champs report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  11. ↑ Wenig, Jorg (2011-07-24). Heidler in class of her own – German Champs, Day 1. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10.
  12. ↑ Germany’s Storl sends the shot out to European U23 best in Cuxhaven. European Athletics (2011-08-10). Retrieved on 2011-08-10.

External links

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Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Teddy Tamgho		 Men's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year
2011 		Succeeded by
Pavel Maslák