Chemnitz – Former shot put world champion Christina Schwanitz does not think of her retirement despite ponement of the summer games in Tokyo to 2021.
“Olympia was my goal when I started again after the birth of my twins,” said the 34-year-old from LV 90 Erzgebirge to the German Press Agency. “As long as it’s fun,” she plans to continue – even beyond 2021.
Schwanitz surprisingly won bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in October. The two-time European champion described this as her greatest success after giving birth to a girl and a boy two and a half years ago. Schwanitz welcomes the fact that the Tokyo Games will not take place until 2021 due to the corona pandemic and is already looking forward to a “great next year”: in addition to the Olympics, there will probably also be an indoor World Cup and EM. The outdoor World Cup in Eugene / USA, originally planned for 2021, is to take place in 2022.
She did not consider retiring in the event of a medal win in Tokyo 2020. “If it had gone well, it would have been crazy to stop,” said Schwanitz, who will be 35 on Christmas Eve. As a sports soldier, she was also financially secure in the Corona crisis, but she still expects considerable losses due to the lack of competitions.
«At the moment, I don’t assume that I can still compete this year. It’s about keeping fit and improving, ”she said. Schwanitz was Olympic eleventh in Beijing in 2008 and tenth in London four years later. In 2015 she won World Cup gold in Beijing but then disappointed in sixth place at the summer games in Rio de Janeiro.
