Germany's Demut determined to put Daegu disappointment behind her | 09.11.2011
German triple jump record holder Katja Demut suffered a badly-timed heel injury just four days before the start of the 2011 IAAF World Championships but the 27-year-old athlete from Jena is now eagerly looking forward to 2012.
"It was a training exercise that I've always done it. There was nothing new about it, so was very hard to deal with when I got injured,” recalled Demut, in a recent interview with the German athletics federation website www.leichtathletik.de
"The doctor said we could try to inject it, but he could not promise that I would then be able to jump without any pain and, if I jumped, it could also worsen the injury which could then then take two to three months until it was healed. In view of the Olympic Games next year, we then decided against it (injections),” she added.
Nevertheless Demut can look back on 2011 with some satisfaction.
She extended the German records to 14.47m indoors, at the European Athletics Indoor Permit Meeting in Düsseldorf last winter, and then bounded out to 14.57m outdoors in Wessel back in June to end the year ranked fourth in Europe.
Demut confirmed that she will compete indoors but intends to miss the World Indoor Championships as she wants to be in shape to contest the medals at both the European Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games next summer.
"I'll probably make two or three indoor competitions to see where I stand. If something does not work then I can still change it in training. I'll definitely do the indoor season but only up to the German Indoor Championships (which will be 25-26 February in Karlsruhe).”
However, Demut also knows that the pressure is on her in 2012. Despite jumping long distances in German competitions, her major international championships record is poor.
She went to the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships cited as a possible medallist only to fail to reach the final. She also had three no jumps in the qualifying rounds of the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
