Patrick Lange: The fighter

It was not an easy year for Patrick Lange.

A bike fall, a broken shoulder, a severe corona infection – everything you don’t need, especially not as a world-class long-distance triathlete, where even the smallest disturbances in the musculoskeletal system have the greatest consequences.

If you want to win Hawaii, like Lange did in 2017 and 2018, your body has to function like a Formula 1 car where everything fits: power, aerodynamics, stability.

But 2022 could not be the year of Patrick Lange, who comes from northern Hesse, starts for DSW Darmstadt and lives and trains in Salzburg.

Despite everything, he traveled confidently to the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October.

He felt good physically, mentally too.

But as always, the race in Hawaii with its extreme conditions - heat, wind, humidity - could not be planned.

Lange got caught on the bike. He had to serve a five-minute time penalty for alleged slipstreaming, which dashed his hopes.

But even without a time penalty, you have to be realistic, he probably wouldn't have had a chance of a podium finish.

He fought his way up to tenth place in the run – a placement that doesn't meet his expectations and leaves a bad feeling.

Lange didn't want to go into the winter break with that.

That's why he signed up for the Ironman Israel in November.

Amends for Hawaii?

That's only possible in Hawaii.

But such a race is good for a mood lift.

Lange made the best of it, winning the competition in and around the Sea of ​​Galilee with a brilliant running performance.

He completed the final marathon after swimming 3.8 kilometers and cycling 180 kilometers in 2:30:32 hours.

Never before has a triathlete been faster in an Ironman race.

His conclusion: "Now I can start the break and the new season with a good feeling and a lot of confidence." (ede.)

Julian Weber: The ambitious one

Julian Weber danced.

About the tartan track.

On the railing of the press box.

And later through the night.

And the javelin thrower from USC Mainz had every reason to do so on August 21st.

Before that, he had let his sports equipment sail through the Munich Olympic Stadium like no other.

With a throw in the fourth attempt, which he initially looked at very skeptically, but whose width then made him get on his knees and hit the ground several times with his right hand with enthusiasm.

87.66 meters meant victory.

Weber was European champion and had won his first major international medal.

"2022 was by far my best season and an almost perfect year," says the 28-year-old.

"Almost" because four weeks earlier he had finished fourth at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Again, like in 2021 at the Olympic Games in Paris.

He had hoped to be able to continue his continuous increase in the season highlights - Olympian 2016, World Cup sixth 2019 - with a podium finish.

The man from Mainz has been one of the 80-meter throwers for eight years and has been among the best in the world for six years.

He returned from serious injuries and operations as if nothing had happened.

Pain in his shoulders, back and flattening foot are his constant companions, and they bothered him on the day of the European Championship final.

So much so that he even refrained from throwing in.

"Before the competition, I didn't think I could throw at all," he says.