Johannes Vetter (; born 26 March 1993) is a German athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He won gold at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. His personal best of 97.76 m is the German record, and ranks him second on the overall list behind Jan Železný. Vetter currently trains under Boris Obergföll and is a member of LG Offenburg's track and field squad. He was previously with SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken and Dresdner SC.
Personal life Vetter was born and raised in Dresden. His grandfather was born in Königshütte (now Chorzów, Poland) in 1941.Vetter joins Warholm, Duplantis and Crouser in race to break the next world record World Athletics Upon receiving his Abitur, Vetter joined the Polizei Sachsen ("Saxony State Police") and has been a Sportsoldat ("Sport Soldier") since September 2014. He has a tattoo of an Ancient Greek javelin thrower on his back.Für Gold schmiss der deutsche Held bei der Polizei hin
Career 2011–2016 In 2011, Vetter competed in the European Junior Championships. He made it through the qualifying round with a personal best 71.60 m throw. He then finished 12th in the final with a throw of 65.87 m. Zigismunds Sirmais won the event with a throw of 81.53 m.EUROPEAN ATHLETICS U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS – TALLINN 2011
In July 2015, Vetter took part in the European U23 Championships. He finished fourth, throwing the javelin 79.78 m. Kacper Oleszczuk won gold with a throw of 82.29 m. In August 2015, he competed in the IAAF World Championships. He finished seventh with a throw of 83.79 m. Julius Yego won the competition with a throw of 92.72 m.REPORT: MEN’S JAVELIN FINAL – IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015
Vetter competed for Germany at the 2016 Summer Olympics, along with Julian Weber and eventual gold medalist Thomas Röhler. Leading up to his maiden Olympics, Vetter unleashed the javelin with a personal best of 88.23 m to top the field and attain the Olympic entry standard (83.00 m) by a five-metre margin at the Kuortane Games in Finland. Coming to the final with the second best throw at 85.96 m from the qualifying stage, Vetter opened the competition with an 85.32 m throw on his first attempt to seize an early lead, but Röhler, along with 2015 World Champion Julius Yego of Kenya and defending Olympic Champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago overtook him for the medal positions. Unable to improve his mark in the remaining attempts, Vetter finished in fourth place, outside the podium by just six centimetres. Less than a month after his disappointment at the Olympics, Vetter finished first in a world-class field at the 2016 ISTAF Berlin, throwing a personal best of 89.57 m.
2017–2020 In July 2017, he won the German Championship with a throw of 89.35 m. This was his first victory in the German Championship (he finished fifth in 2014, second in 2015 and fourth in 2016).VETTER DEFEATS RÖHLER AT GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, KLOSTERHALFEN AND KRAUSE IMPRESS Two days later, he recorded throws of 90.75 m, 91.06 m, 93.06 m and a personal best 94.44 m at the 2017 Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern. The 94.44 m throw was also a German record, besting Röhler's 93.90 m throw from May 2017.VETTER THROWS 94.44M IN LUCERNE, MOVING TO SECOND ON WORLD ALL-TIME JAVELIN LISTVetter wirft Speer auf Rekordweite In August 2017, he won gold at the World Championships in London with a throw of 89.89 m.REPORT: MEN'S JAVELIN FINAL – IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS LONDON 2017 Vetter finished his season at the 2017 ISTAF Berlin, where he won gold with an 89.85 m throw, nearly four metres ahead of second place Röhler.Vetter gewinnt, Hartings chancenlos On 14 October 2017, he won the 2017 European Athlete of the Year trophy.Johannes Vetter and Katerina Stefanidi win European Athletics awards
In March 2018, he won gold at the European Throwing Cup, throwing 92.70 m, twelve metres ahead of second place.VETTER THROWS 92.70M AT EUROPEAN THROWING CUP IN LEIRIA IAAF In July, he won bronze at the 2018 German Athletics Championships, with a throw of 87.83 m. In August, he competed in the 2018 European Athletics Championships. He won the qualifying round with an 87.39 m effort, then placed fifth in the final with a throw of 83.27 m. Röhler won gold with 89.47 m.Javelin Throw Men European Athletic Association
Vetter represented Team Europe at The Match Europe v USA in September 2019. He won gold with a throw of 90.03 m, his best performance since May 2018.Johannes Vetter krönt europäischen Sieg mit 90-Meter-Wurf German Athletics Association At the 2019 World Athletics Championships, Vetter had the best throw in the qualifying round, with 89.35 m. He then won bronze in the final, throwing 85.37 m.Vetter wirft den Speer zu Bronze Der Spiegel On 6 September 2020, Vetter finished first at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial. He set a new personal best of 97.76 m, only 72 centimetres shy of Jan Železný's world record.Johannes Vetter shocks with second best Javelin throw in history Olympic Channel Vetter also threw 94.84 m during the competition, along with 89.95 m and 87.28 m. He said in an interview afterwards about the 97-metre throw: "It was really close to perfection. In an open field with a good backwind, I think that throw would have been 100 metres, but I'm really happy."
2020 Tokyo Olympics Vetter entered the 2020 Olympic event as gold medal favourite. In qualification Group A, his highest throw was 85.64 m finishing behind Neeraj Chopra of India. He easily proceeded to the Olympic final, and his first throw was a disappointing 82.52 m, while he deliberately stepped out of the line in his next 2 throws which made his highest throw 82.52 m, and finishing 9th. He didn't proceed to the finals stage, as qualification group opponent Neeraj Chopra advanced to win gold, while Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic and Vitezslav Vesely of Czech Republic claiming silver and bronze respectively. After 2020 Olympic medal chance missed, Vetter said he was looking forward to Diamond League meets and upcoming World Championships and 2024 Olympics.Fortune favours the brave: How Neeraj Chopra won Gold in Tokyo and more fancied Johannes Vetter missed out India Today.
Competition record Representing 2011European Junior ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia12thJavelin throw65.87 m2015European U23 ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia4thJavelin throw79.78 mWorld ChampionshipsBeijing, China7thJavelin throw83.79 m2016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands16th (q)Javelin throw79.98 mOlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil4thJavelin throw85.32 m2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom1stJavelin throw89.89 m2018European Throwing CupLeiria, Portugal1stJavelin throw92.70 m CREuropean ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany5thJavelin throw83.27 m2019World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar3rdJavelin throw85.37 m2020World Athletics Continental TourChorzów, Poland1stJavelin throw97.76 m2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan9thJavelin throw82.52 m
Seasonal bests by year
Year Performance Place Date 2010 51.77 metres Nabeul, Tunisia 10 April 2011 71.60 metres Tallinn, Estonia 21 July 2012 61.39 metres Dresden, Germany 10 June 2013 83.73 metres Schutterwald, Germany 5 August 2014 79.75 metres Haldensleben, Germany 21 June 2015 85.40 metres Jena, Germany 31 May 2016 89.57 metres Berlin, Germany 3 September 2017 94.44 metres Luzern, Switzerland 11 July 2018 92.70 metres Leiria, Portugal 11 March 2019 90.03 metres Minsk, Belarus 10 September 2020 97.76 metres Chorzów, Poland 6 September 2021 96.29 meters Chorzów, Poland 21 May202285.64 metresOffenburg, Germany15 May202380.82 metresLeverkusen, Germany29 July202473.16 metresBraunschweig, Germany29 June
See also
Athletics in Germany Germany at the Olympics
References
External links