Berlin burns as bright as Beijing for Heidler

Betty Heidler of Germany receives the gold medal for winning the Women's Hammer Throw Final in Osaka (Getty Images)
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Ask questions to World Hammer Throw champion Betty Heidler and the articulate, bright athlete is only to happy to oblige.

But one question the German cannot answer is what prize she would rather have, the Olympic gold in Beijing next year or the retention of her World title in 2009.

The reason is simple. Heidler would, of course, like to land Olympic gold but she also harbours a burning ambition to retain her world crown because they are staged in Berlin, the city where she was born and lived up she was 18.

"It's both," she said, when asked, 'what is her main goal?'

"They are both special events. The Olympic Games is one of the biggest events for a sportsman but Berlin is also very important and a special event for me."

Family connections

Aged just 24, a baby in hammer throwing terms, the future does indeed appear bright for Heidler, who was aged 23 when she landing the World title in Osaka by just 0.02 from Cuba's Yipsi Moreno in August.

The Berliner took up athletics aged 14 after a friend decided to join the local athletics club and she followed her. From a sporty family - her mother was a rower and her father a keen footballer - Heidler enjoyed running, jumping and throwing but discovered a flair for the throws and, particularly, the hammer.

"It was good for me to do everything," she said of trying different events. "But I liked the hammer throw."

On closer examination, however, Heidler has a strong family connection with track and field. Her great grandfather, Martin Riefstahl, was a high jumper at appeared in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games while her great cousin, Cornelia Oschkenat, won a bronze medal in the 100m Hurdles at the 1987 World Championships.

Heidler's early promise was recognised and she moved from her native Berlin to Frankfurt to link up with her current coach Michael Deyhle in 2001. Dehyle -who also coaches German international hammer thrower Kathrin Klaas - has intelligently nurtured Heidler and the world champion accepts the move has played a major part in her subsequent success.

"It wasn't very easy leaving home I was only 17 and a few days later I turned 18, she said of the move to live in western Germany from Berlin. "I can't say why really works with Michael, it just works. I think my coach has a really good eye."