Steffi Nerius (; born 1 July 1972) is a retired German

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competed in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. During her career, she was a European and

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. She also won silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her personal best throw was 68.34 m, set in 2008. This ranks her second among German female javelin throwers, behind

Christina Obergföll Christina Obergföll (; born 22 August 1981) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She was World Champion in 2013. Her personal best throw of 70.20 m is the German record. It also ranks her fifth on t ...

. Initially playing

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

in school, Nerius later switched to

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), competiti ...

. She was taught the

by her mother, a former javelin thrower. Her first international success was a bronze medal at the 1991 European Junior Championships. Her first gold medal at a major competition came at the 2006 European Championships. From 2003 to 2006 she won four consecutive German Championships.

Achievements

¹Old model javelin

References

External links

* * *
Official website

Leverkusen who's who
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerius, Steffi 1972 births Living people People from Bergen auf Rügen Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania German female javelin throwers German national athletics champions Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners