{"id":2955,"date":"2020-04-29T11:49:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T16:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2020-05-02T20:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T01:35:59","slug":"an-interview-with-vesteinn-hafsteinsson-part-3-the-fight-to-stay-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=2955","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with V\u00c9STEINN HAFSTEINSSON, Part 3: The Fight to stay on top"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On Thursday, April 30th at 12:00pm CST, Coach V\u00e9steinn Hafsteinsson of Global Throwing examined the form of World Champion discus thrower \u00a0<\/em>Daniel St\u00e5hl\u00a0<\/em>in a Mcthrows.com webinar<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In advance of the webinar, V\u00e9steinn sat for a long interview about his coaching career. This post, the third derived from that interview, describes the challenges V\u00e9steinn faced trying to keep Gerd Kanter on top of the discus world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a question few of us will ever have to answer, but what do you do once you\u2019ve achieved your goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say you’ve devoted yourself for eight years to becoming the Olympic discus champion. Your focus on that goal has determined virtually every aspect of your life. Your diet. Your daily schedule. Where you’ve lived. With whom you’ve become friends. It has required you to abjure most of the pleasures enjoyed by “normal’ people in their twenties. It has forced you to endure the kind of public humiliation unknown to those of us whose “bad days” do not take place in packed stadiums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be a remarkable feeling to finally stand atop an Olympic podium with that gold medal around your neck, but what happens after the medal ceremony is over and you have to face the future without that all-encompassing objective around which to organize your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the question facing Gerd Kanter after the 2008 Olympics. He was twenty-nine years old, in fantastic shape and in need of a reset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So he and his coach, V\u00e9steinn Hafsteinsson, formulated a new plan. They would make a determined assault on J\u00fcrgen Schult\u2019s world record of 74.08m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One might assume that once a thrower breaks the seventy-meter barrier (as Gerd had done each year since 2005) every competition would become an assault on the world record. But it\u2019s not so simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider J\u00fcrgen, for example. Fans of the sport will remember him as a remarkably consistent fixed-feet thrower who won Olympic and World Championship golds. But he broke the world record in 1986 on a full reverse throw, and the reason we remember him as a non-reverser is that he switched to that style afterwards, believing that it would allow him to be more consistent in major championships. And he was correct. J\u00fcrgen never again produced a seventy-four-meter throw, but he qualified for seven World and four Olympic finals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s exactly the kind of career V\u00e9steinn imagined for Gerd, so though they spent time training in California every spring and Gerd produced some big throws in open, windy venues such as Chula Vista and Salinas, the focus always remained on preparing him to throw sixty-eight-meters-plus at major meets in large stadiums because that is what he’d have to do to become Olympic champion some day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of Gerd\u2019s Olympic triumph, though, they decided on a new approach. They would adjust his training with the goal of breaking the world record on their trip to California in the spring of 2009. They even had a venue picked out. Gerd especially liked the setup at Hartnell College in Salinas where he\u2019d produced a throw of 72.02m in 2007, so that is where he’d go for the record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the season began, Gerd demonstrated that he was indeed in world record shape. Previously, his top season-opening throw had been 65.43m in 2007. He began his 2009 campaign with a 69.70m bomb at the European Cup Winter Throwing competition, then followed that up with an astounding 69.51m indoors<\/em> in V\u00e4xj\u00f6, Sweden. That throw shattered the unofficial indoor world mark of 66.20m set by Wolfgang Schmidt in 1980. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, when they arrived in California that April, complications arose. In spite of its long history as the site of epic discus competitions, the throwing field at Hartnell had never been certified as a legitimate spot to set a world record, so V\u00e9steinn paid to have it surveyed. The survey revealed that the field had too much of a slope and would not pass IAAF muster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerd threw 71.00m at a meet in Chula Vista, and 69.45m at another in San Diego, but was disappointed not to be able to take a crack at the record in Salinas, and according to V\u00e9steinn, was \u201cnever really into\u201d the world record chase after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, for the first time since they had teamed up in 2000, Gerd began to question the way V\u00e9steinn was training him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conflict between strong willed coaches and their athletes is as old as sport itself, and the throwing world has not been immune. Robert Harting and David Storl both eventually rebelled against the mentors who guided them to World and Olympic medals, and it may just be that a decade of having a certain coach control your life is all an athlete can bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the cause, the relationship between Gerd and V\u00e9steinn became strained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had argued about the volume of throwing,\u201d V\u00e9steinn recalls. \u201cWhen you get to be twenty-nine or thirty years old, you have  to throw less to stay healthy, but Gerd always wanted more and more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the tension between them, Gerd put together a sensational season. He hit seventy-one meters again in June, and came into the Berlin World Championships in fantastic shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hosts of major championships must provide a throwing area outside of the stadium for athletes to take early warmup throws. In Berlin, there is a park with a discus\/hammer cage about a half mile from the Olympic stadium. There, an hour or so before the discus final, Gerd took six full throws–his normal routine at Championship meets. V\u00e9steinn says that he did not realize the distance of Gerd\u2019s throws until J\u00fcrgen Schult, now a coach for the German national team, approached and asked, \u201cWhy are you letting him throw so far?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon closer inspection, V\u00e9steinn saw that each of Gerd\u2019s warmup tosses had travelled at least seventy-two meters. The farthest was 72.80m. Clearly, he was in great physical shape to defend the title he\u2019d won in Osaka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But V\u00e9steinn was concerned about Gerd’s mental state going into the competition. During their final conversation before the athletes were transported into the stadium, V\u00e9steinn warned Gerd to expect that Robert Harting would throw sixty-nine meters that night, and that he would do so in the early rounds. \u201cI told him it doesn\u2019t matter, you just throw 71.50m, but he laughed and said, \u2018No way will Harting do that!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V\u00e9steinn was wrong about one thing. Harting did not throw sixty-nine meters early. It was not until his final attempt that he blasted a 69.43m PB to take the lead from Piotr Malachowski, who had set a new Polish national record with a toss of 69.15m in round five. Gerd finished third with a best of 66.88m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was one of the most dramatic and memorable performances in the history of the sport, and it came close to ending V\u00e9steinn’s partnership with Gerd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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V\u00e9steinn had seen too much as an athlete and coach to have started counting chickens based on Gerd’s performance in warmups, but he knew what Gerd was capable of that night and it was not easy watching a shirtless Harting romp around the track when he believed that Gerd might easily have won with better mental focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Berlin debacle, V\u00e9steinn wondered if his relationship with Gerd was beyond repair. He considered quitting as Gerd’s coach, but changed his mind. The strain continued throughout the 2010 season, the first since 2004 during which Gerd did not win a medal in a major championship (he took fourth at the Euros that year).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, in the spring of 2011, Gerd, in V\u00e9steinn\u2019s words, \u201ccame back to me mentally.\u201d His season\u2019s best of 67.99m would be his lowest since 2003, and he could not keep Harting from claiming another World title, but Gerd added a World Championship silver to his growing medal collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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V\u00e9steinn felt that they were totally in sync throughout the 2012 season, one of the most satisfying of Gerd\u2019s career. Once again, he failed to dent the seventy-meter mark, but he took silver at the Euros and his season\u2019s best of 68.03m came when he needed it the most–in round five of the Olympic final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in Berlin, Gerd ended up with the bronze (Harting won with 68.27m, followed by Ehsan Hadadi at 68.18m), but this time it felt like a triumph. Through all their years together, all the miles travelled, all the achievements and all the disappointments, the ultimate goal was to forge Gerd into the kind of thrower who could produce his best effort under the greatest pressure, and that is exactly what he did in London, where he was the only discus finalist to produce a season’t best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat,\u201d says V\u00e9steinn, \u201cwas a really high-ranking medal for me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the last they\u2019d earn together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerd wasn\u2019t finished quite yet. He\u2019d make the podium in three more major championship meets before retiring in 2018, but after the London Games, he and V\u00e9steinn ended their partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together they\u2019d won medals in four World Championships, two European Championships, and two Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just as importantly, they\u2019d given the people of Estonia the hero they were looking for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting back on his time with Gerd, V\u00e9steinn took a moment to philosophize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are getting money for throwing a plate,” he said. “People get crazy about that, and it seems kind of stupid, but it is a symbol of making people feel good. Sports results are the easiest way to make a group of people, a whole nation, feel good for a short period of time. And that\u2019s what we accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next<\/strong>: V\u00e9steinn climbs the mountain again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, April 30th at 12:00pm CST, Coach V\u00e9steinn Hafsteinsson of Global Throwing examined the form of World Champion discus thrower \u00a0Daniel St\u00e5hl\u00a0in a Mcthrows.com webinar. In advance of the webinar, V\u00e9steinn sat for a long interview about his coaching career. This post, the third derived from that interview, describes the challenges V\u00e9steinn faced trying … Continue reading An Interview with V\u00c9STEINN HAFSTEINSSON, Part 3: The Fight to stay on top<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,5,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discus","category-interviews","category-webinar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8knIb-LF","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}