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Christina Schwanitz
Photo: Darko Vojinovic / dpa
Former shot put world champion Christina Schwanitz is looking forward to the last season of her successful career.
“This year will be my last - my athletic exit.
I hope it will be a good one, "said the 36-year-old athlete from LV 90 Erzgebirge of the" Free Press "in Chemnitz.
“I want to have a good year again.
I want people to remember me positively. "
Schwanitz wants to start her farewell tour after 18 years of top-class sport on January 21st at the indoor meeting in Manchester.
Season highlights this year are the indoor world championships in March in Belgrade, the outdoor world championships in July in Eugene / USA and the European championships in August in Munich.
The Dresden-born woman actually wanted to end her career after the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but changed her mind after her quick qualification.
“The competition just went underground.
So I didn't want to stop, go down so quietly and say goodbye, "said Schwanitz, who celebrated her last major international successes in 2019 with a bronze medal and in 2021 as third in the European Indoor Championships.
Last year it became apparent that the dream of an Olympic medal would not come to fruition at the fourth Summer Games either.
Schwanitz had suffered a herniated disc at the beginning of the year, had entered the season late, ended up in corona quarantine, the shape far from the best days.
Your decision to quit this year is not just for sporting reasons.
"I have been doing sport since 1999, and at the latest since 2004 I have been doing high-performance sport," Schwanitz told the newspaper.
"This long journey has left physical traces that can no longer be wiped away," she emphasized.
In addition, the mother of two children has not finished family planning: "We're still missing someone."
ara / dpa
