On the penultimate night of the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships the men’s javelin was heating up on the infield. It was a chance for Germany’s Julian Weber to take revenge.
Two years prior in Rome, Weber had been set to take the gold until Czechia’s Jakub Vadlejch took the top spot in the final round with a massive throw of 88.65m. The defending champion, Weber, came so close to gold but he had to settle for silver.
So in Birmingham when his countryman Nick Thumm took the lead in the fifth round, it was an oh so familiar feeling for Weber. Except this time, it was him that would snatch the gold in the final moments, also breaking a monumental championship record for extra decoration.
“No, I didn't think about that [the championship record], like at all,” Weber said.
“And also when the javelin went out of my hand in the last round, I didn't care, I just knew it was far. It's good and I just screamed, I didn't even recognise how far I threw so I was just celebrating.
“I never thought about a championship record. I mean, I know I can throw far, but I didn’t even know how far the championship record was.
“It was such a pleasure to meet Steve Backley, the old owner of the Championship record, he's such a legend and it's a great honour.”
It was a particularly special moment as Weber’s feat also made him the first man to throw over 90 metres at a European Athletics Championships. Backley’s previous championship record had stood at 89.72m set in Hungary in 1998, and despite his four European titles he was never able to break past the 90 metre mark at a championship.
When meeting Backley after taking gold, Weber revealed that he even joked with the Briton that “he had it for a long time, so it was time it was broken”.
In fact, Backley was commentating on the event, making it even more special for the javelin community.
Tough start to 2026
Though, Weber had a far from easy season building up to Birmingham 2026 as injury meant he had only competed twice this year before the championships started.
“It [being injured in 2026] was incredibly tough, it was never that tough before,” he admitted. “I'm really happy the last years were without injury and that's the most important thing.
“So that's why I am, or I was, also that good last year, but there's always something. This year especially some more than the last year, I had to work a lot and I had to be patient and I waited a long time to really go into throwing and into competitions.
“It was so many months of just doing rehab kind of training and no throws, no heavy weight lifting or whatever. But in the end it was the right decision to just focus on being happy and I'm really happy.”
Germany’s love for javelin
Over the last four European Athletics Championships, Germany have won six of the 12 medals on offer for the men – showcasing themselves yet again as a dominant throwing nation.
They are so prominent in the throws that they actually had at least one athlete on almost all of the throws podiums, men and women. The only events they were missing from the podium for were the men’s shot put and women’s hammer throw, although they still had an athlete in the final of both events.
So there was much support from the throws-loving Germans when Weber took the gold once again.
“I didn't sleep that much and that good [after the final], but it didn’t matter at that moment,” Weber beamed. “I just felt awesome standing there on the podium for the medal ceremony and the people applauding.
“I mean, the atmosphere in the stadium, it's so, so much, but I'm so grateful and I just feel incredible. And it's such a great feeling. To have had one really great throw, it's just amazing.
“Yeah, I got it [the title] back. It was always the battle between me and Jakub [Vadlejch], he also did a great job.
“This time it was my German friend, Nick Thumm, a young guy, so I'm really happy to share this place and the medals with him. And it was such a great competition, he also threw a PB [83.76m]."
