It does not happen often that an athlete retires at the very top. More usually, a World or Olympic champion never manages to reach those heights again, and though they may continue competing at a high level, they fade away to such a degree that no-one realises that they’ve stopped.
How nice then that Steffi Nerius has marked the last days of her javelin career not only with a first world gold, but also a neat closing of the circle with a final appearance at a venue so important at the start of her career.
That venue was of course Thessaloniki where the 19 year-old Nerius won European Junior bronze in 1991. She also won bronze (or $12,000) there at the 2009 World Athletics Final at almost twice that age…..Read More
