David Storl (born 27 July 1990) is a German

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialises in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

. He was successful on the youth and junior

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

circuit, winning

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s at the World Youth Championships and World Junior Championships. Storl won his first senior medal, a silver, at the

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

. He held the world junior record of 22.73 m with the 6 kg shot. His personal best with the senior implement is 22.20 m. He won the gold medal in the shot put competition at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, and the Silver Medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Storl is one of only eleven athletes (along with

Valerie Adams Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams (formerly Vili; born 6 October 1984) is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IA ...

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

, Veronica Campbell-Brown,

Armand Duplantis Armand "Mondo" Gustav Duplantis (born 10 November 1999), is a Swedish and American pole vaulter who competes for Sweden. Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the current List of world records in athletics, world recor ...

Jacques Freitag Jacques Freitag (11 June 1982 – ) was a South African high jumper. Freitag is one of only eleven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Armand Duplantis, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kirani James, Faith Kipyegon, Jan ...

Yelena Isinbayeva Yelena Gadzhievna Isinbayeva ( rus, Елена Гаджиевна Исинбаева, p=jɪˈlʲɛnə gɐˈdʐɨjɪvnə ɪsʲɪnˈbajɪvə; born 3 June 1982) is a Russian former pole vaulter. She is twice an Olympic gold medalist (2004 and 200 ...

, Kirani James,

Faith Kipyegon Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon (born 10 January 1994) is a Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle and Long-distance running, long distance runner. Kipyegon is the current List of world records in athletics, world record holder for the 1500 metres, 1 ...

Jana Pittman Jana Pittman (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian former athlete. During her athletic career Pittman specialised in the 400 metres run and 400-metre hurdles events. She is a two-time world champion in the 400 m hurdles, from 2003 and 2007. ...

, and

Dani Samuels Dani Stevens (née Samuels, born 26 May 1988) is an Australian retired discus thrower who in 2009 became the youngest ever female world champion in the event. She is the current national and Oceanian record holder. After winning the discus go ...

) to win World Championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels of an athletic event. Storl uses the glide technique for shot putting.

Career

Storl first became involved in

as a child when his grandfather suggested he join the local club, VfL Rochlitzer Berg. Initially a

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

specialist, the death of his personal coach in 2006 led him to focus exclusively on the

and discus throwing events.Landells, Steve (2008-07-08)
Storl does it again – IAAF World Junior Championships
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-08-10. At the age of 16, he won the

at the 2007 World Youth Championships with a personal best and German under-18 record throw of 21.40 metres (using the lighter 5 kg shot for youths). The following year he competed with the 6 kg junior implement and won the shot put title at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted ...

with a mark of 21.08 m, which made him the fourth-best junior of all time. In 2009, he began using the full senior weight (7.26 kg) in the indoor season and achieved a best of 19.48 m. Returning to the junior 6 kg shot in the outdoor season, he became the first ever junior athlete to throw beyond 22 metres in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, setting consecutive world junior records of 22.18 m and then 22.34 m. A month later he increased this mark to 22.73 m in Osterode (putting some distance between himself and the Edis Elkasevic's former record of 21.96 m), and went on to win the 2009 European Junior title with a championships record of 22.40 m. Having placed third at the 2009 German Athletics Championships and achieved the senior international "A" standard with a personal best throw of 20.43 m, he was selected for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He ended his first senior international appearance in 15th place in the qualifying rounds.David Storl
Leichatletik. Retrieved on 2011-08-10. The 2010 season was his first as a senior athlete and he was runner-up at the Indoor and Outdoor German Championships. At the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

, he came seventh while compatriot

Ralf Bartels Ralf Bartels (born 21 February 1978 in Stavenhagen, Germany, then East Germany, German Democratic Republic) is a German shot putter. He became European Champion at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, Sweden after beating ...

won the bronze. Storl represented Germany at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

and managed fourth place. That year he achieved senior personal bests of 20.77 m both outdoors and indoors. He defeated Bartels to win the German indoor title in 2011, but the places were reversed at the

, although Storl's

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

was his first major senior medal. He surpassed the 21-metre mark in Gothenburg in June with a throw of 21.03 m and topped the podium at both the

2011 European Team Championships The third European Team Championships took place on 18 and 19 June 2011. The Competition was divided between four divisions, with results determining promotion and relegation between them. The Super League event was held in Stockholm, at the Stock ...

and

2011 European Athletics U23 Championships The 8th European Athletics U23 Championships were held on 14–17 July 2011 in the Městský stadion (Ostrava), Městský stadion in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Russia topped the medal table with 20 medals in total, including 9 golds (after revision ...

, setting championship records of 20.81 m and 20.45 m in the process. With Bartels not competing, Storl won his first outdoor senior national title in July. He added to his best mark with a throw of 21.05 m at the Weltklasse hinterm Deich meeting. On 12 August 2014, Storl won his second successive European Athletics Championships gold medal with a throw of 21.42m. Storl surpassed the 22-metre mark on 9 July 2015 in Lausanne with a winning throw of 22.20m, making it his new personal best.

Achievements

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Storl, David 1990 births Living people People from Rochlitz Athletes from Saxony German male shot putters Olympic male shot putters Olympic athletes for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany World Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics U20 Championships winners World Youth Championships in Athletics winners IAAF Continental Cup winners European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Indoor Championships winners German national athletics champions European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners SC DHfK Leipzig athletes 21st-century German sportsmen