This thief had clearly chosen the wrong victim.
Anita Wlodarczyk, 1.78 meters tall, weighs 95 kilos - and above all agile when it matters.
The 36-year-old Pole is the world record holder in hammer throwing, three-time Olympic champion, four-time world and European champion - not one to be pushed around.
Achim Dreis
sports editor.
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The guy who tried to break into and steal her car noticed that too.
He was caught in the act by Anita Wlodarczyk, stopped after a chase and handed over to the police himself, as she announced to the world via Twitter.
And he could only be glad that she didn't have her sports equipment with her.
But the fight ended unevenly: "The thief suffered," wrote the athlete.
Unfortunately, she didn't escape unscathed either.
Wlodarczyk suffered a thigh injury that affected her so badly that her entire season plan has been thrown off balance: her participation in the World Cup in Eugene in July has been canceled, as has her appearance at the European Championships in Munich in August.
"My athletics season is over," the hammer thrower wrote on Twitter after she had to undergo surgery.
"Faith and optimism won't let go of me," she added.
There's a lot of work to be done in rehab.
But she will "do everything to get back to the top".
The first woman who threw the hammer over 80 meters and has clearly led the list since 2016 with 82.98 has nothing to prove to the sports world - at most herself. Wlodarczyk has won almost every title that was up for grabs since 2009: World Cup - and EM gold she won four times.
She is also the first track and field athlete to have won three individual gold medals in the same discipline at the Olympics.
She is aiming for the fourth gold in Paris 2024.
If that doesn't work out, since the incident with the car thief she has had a plan B: "After my career, I might start with MMA." Because, we remember: "The thief suffered."