It has been over 600 days since we last saw Germany’s Lilli Schwarzkopf as she celebrated her silver medal in the heptathlon from the London 2012 Olympic Games, second only to Great Britain’s Jessica Ennis.
Shortly after that, she tore her achilles tendon at the Decastar meeting in Talence, which required surgery and several months away from the sport.
But Schwarzkopf has resurfaced and is ready to get back to it as she will make her return in a small meeting in Germany on Sunday, where she will line-up in the 100m hurdles, high jump, and javelin events.
“I am confident that I can bring my tendon back to its former ability again,” she told focus.de
“In some disciplines such as in a sprint, I still feel the full strength is missing, but otherwise I feel ready for a new beginning.”
Schwarzkopf’s journey to the top required time as she slowly progressed throughout the years, taking silver at the 2005 European Athletics U23 Championships in Erfert followed by bronze at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.
She then consistently placed in the top ten at major championships until that brilliant performance in London which required a personal best effort of 6649 points.
Now 30, Schwarzkopf will have to work hard to regain her elite status; the women’s heptathlon being one of the most competitive events throughout Europe with 17 of the top 20 performances from last year’s world rankings belonging to European athletes.
The European Athletics Championships in August may still be a bit too soon for her as she tries to reach her top shape, but anything is possible especially with the attitude she has adopted.
“I’m excited to see how I can implement the training performance after such a long break from competition,” she said.
In any case we look forward to seeing Schwarzkopf competing in future European Athletics events and will follow her progress attentively.