Harting not competing at National Championships

Discus Olympic and World championships gold medalist Robert Harting (30) will not start at the German championships of track and field in Nuremberg in the next week (July 24 to 26). The Berliner has not applied for the national championships.

“A start was never planned,” Harting said.

The three-time world champion had suffered a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in September 2014 and since then working on his comeback.

Whether Harting is defending his title at the World Championships in Beijing (22 to 30 August), is still open. “I have a wild card and am already qualified,” Harting, who announced a decision on August 11, said: “I will not write off Bejing.”

But for his dream of the Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016, he would not take any chances.

The past eight German championships, Harting was on top of the podium. As a favorite to win the title is now his younger brother Christopher Harting. The 24-year-old leads the German annual top list with 67.93m. Also Martin Wierig has really good chances of taking the German national title.