Tobias Potye and the desire for more jumps
Created: 2023-01-08 14:54
By: Nico-Marius Schmitz
“Unique atmosphere”: Tobias Potye celebrates a height of 2.27 meters at the home European Championships in the Olympic Stadium – a height that secured him the silver medal.
© IMAGO/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/KJPeters
High jump ace Tobias Potye won silver at the European Championships.
At the home game in Munich.
And that despite the fact that he had to do without technical training for years.
The goal for 2023: new personal best, title defense.
Munich – It seemed for a moment that Tobias Potye was in the air.
Arms out wide, fists clenched, feet two feet off the mat.
Potye had just jumped 2.27 m at the European Championships.
That was enough for silver, an EM medal for Munich in Munich.
In the Olympic Park, his living room.
The summer fairy tale with many magical nights in the Olympic Stadium was also written by someone who was born in the Bavarian capital.
"Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps," says Potye four months later: "The medal has a nice place on my shelf.
Of course I'm proud – but I'm still far from full.” The success in Munich, a highlight of a career that has often been determined by problems with one's own body in recent years.
Knee issues "that have cost me the last three to four years."
With a team of experts, Potye took a closer look at the construction site and drew up a new plan.
Targeted exercises to stabilize the knee.
Potye had to do without technique training, i.e. jumps, for years in training.
A high jumper who doesn't jump, how is that supposed to work?
"I have a very good picture of technique, which luckily I was able to retrieve quickly." Potye's training was the competitions.
And it was often difficult to take part.
"My manager often had to talk me into meetings because I haven't had many competitions to show for the past few years," says Potye.
It's obviously difficult to push yourself up like that."
At the German Championships in Berlin, the 27-year-old jumped 2.30 m – personal best and the title.
Before the World Championships in Eugene, the 1.98 m tall athlete (LG Stadtwerke) kept thinking about the master jump from Berlin.
Potye thought, I always deliver one of these now.
That unnecessarily heated up the excitement 14 days before the World Championships: "At the competition I was simply exhausted." That's why there was a different approach for Munich.
To deal with the EM as little as possible for as long as possible: "I thought to myself: I know what to expect.
I know what I've got.
I feel like jumping.
Finished."
A plan that worked.
Potye was undeterred by the euphoric home crowd and the break in the rain.
He soaked up the mood in the crowds he could control.
And then let his emotions run wild as he celebrated silver at the stadium with his family and girlfriend.
All with tears in their eyes.
For 2023, Potye wants a new record, a title defense at the German Championships indoors and outdoors.
And then there's the European Championships in Istanbul and the World Championships in Budapest.
"Competitive sport is always a border crossing," says Potye.
"You mustn't overwork your body.
But if you don't push to the limit, you won't make any progress either."
By Nico Marius Schmitz