Sascha Schlesier himself had not expected that he would return from Torun as world champion. After more than 15 hours of travel, rain and violent gusts of wind awaited him in the Polish venue of this year’s World Championships in Athletics for Seniors, which did not make it easy for the javelin thrower.
“I’m used to these conditions in training on Sylt,” the athlete said with a smile, “maybe that helped me a bit.” Against the strong competition, he finally managed the best throw of the day in the age group over 35 years with 50.17 meters and TSV Westerland has an official world champion in its ranks again.
He came to the World Championships indirectly through TSV coach Thorsten Lickfers: “After a long period without sport, he brought me back to athletics training.” At first, Schlesier only wanted to support the children in the athletics group, “but after a first competition, the desire for the sport returned to me as well.”
In the meantime, Schlesier trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6.15 p.m. in the Sylt Stadium with all those interested in athletics from the age of twelve. Children from six to eleven years of age can take part in Torsten Lickfers’ training from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. There are still a few competitions for the world champion, including the German Championships. He also plans to compete at the European Championships in Italy.
But why javelin throw of all things? For Schlesier, the fascination is closely related to the challenge: “The sport is particularly complex and it is extremely difficult to perfectly coordinate all the necessary movements.”
