Rio Olympic Champion Thomas Röhler Had Failed to Qualify in the UK

Julian Weber won gold in the javelin at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, with a final throw of 90.40 meters, repeating his triumph from the home European Championships in Munich four years ago. Despite shoulder problems, the 31-year-old overtook his teammate Nick Thumm, who had led until the last round with 83.76 meters and secured a surprising silver medal, completing a German one-two finish. Rio Olympic champion Thomas Röhler had failed to qualify.

Bronze went to Latvia's Patriks Gallums with 82.97 meters, one centimeter ahead of Poland's Dawid Wegner. Weber had struggled with shoulder issues all season and only returned to competition in mid-July, throwing a European season's best of 87.04 meters at a meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland. In Birmingham, he qualified for the final with his first attempt, saving valuable energy.

He took the lead in the competition with his first throw of 83.71 meters and led for a long time. Thumm started with 81.10 meters and was initially in the chasing group, but took the lead in the fourth round before Weber countered. In addition to home gold four years ago, Weber won European Championship silver in Rome in 2024. The native of Mainz is still waiting for his first medal at World Championships and Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Robert Farken clearly missed out on a hoped-for medal over 1,500 meters. The 28-year-old finished ninth in 3:37.49 minutes. The title went surprisingly to Dutchman Stefan Nillessen in 3:35.70 minutes, ahead of Sweden's Samuel Pihlström (3:36.16) and Ireland's Andrew Coscoran (3:36.24).

Farken must continue to wait for his first medal at a major event. The last German medal over 1,500 meters was won by Carsten Schlangen at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, taking silver. The last German European champion over the distance was Jens-Peter Herold, who won the title for East Germany in Split in 1990. Tokyo Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen had won three consecutive European titles over 1,500 meters but was not competing this time after winning gold over 5,000 meters on the first day.