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|
 Harting in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Shaggy |
| Nationality | German |
| Born | (1984-10-18)18 October 1984 (age 41) |
| Years active | 2001–2018 |
| Height | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 126 kg (278 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Germany |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event | Discus throw |
| Club | SCC Berlin |
| Turned pro | 2001 |
| Coached by | Torsten Schmidt |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest | 70.66 m |
Robert Harting (German pronunciation:[ˈʁoːbɛʁtˈhaʁtɪŋ]ⓘ; born 18 October 1984) is a retired Germandiscus thrower. He represents the sports clubSCC Berlin, his coach isTorsten Schmidt. He is a former Olympic, World, and European champion in the men's discus throw. His younger brotherChristoph is the event's 2016 Olympic champion.
Harting was born inCottbus,East Germany. He won asilver medal at the2001 World Youth Championships. He was less successful at subsequent championships and finished in eighth in the qualifiers2002 World Junior Championships. He took thegold medal at the2005 European Athletics U23 Championships.
He began competing at the senior level soon after and took part in the2006 European Championships, where he just missed the qualifying mark in the earlier round of the competition. He improved in 2007, throwing a new personal best of 66.93 m and he won the silver medal at the2007 World Championships. He was fourth at the2007 IAAF World Athletics Final and then was second at theEuropean Winter Throwing Cup the following year.
He threw a personal best of 68.65 m inKaunas in June and was selected for theGerman team at the2008 Beijing Olympics. He finished fourth with a throw of 67.09 m. He closed the season with a bronze medal at the2008 IAAF World Athletics Final.
At the Berlin2009 World Championships, Harting was sitting in the silver medal position coming into the 6th round of the final, he then threw a personal best of 69.43 metres to gain the lead and ultimately win the gold medal. The final remaining competitor and leader since the 1st round, Polish athletePiotr Małachowski, was unable to better the German's throw.
Harting set a championship record of 66.80 m to win at the2010 European Team Championships and recorded a mark of 68.67 m the following month at the2010 German Athletics Championships to take the national title. He threw 68.47 m in the final of the2010 European Athletics Championships but this was not enough to beat Małachowski. Still, the silver medal was his first at the primary continental championships. He competed in the2010 IAAF Diamond League and won at theWeltklasse Zurich, but it was Małachowski who won the overall Diamond Race Trophy. He improved his personal best inNeubrandenburg in a one-on-one competition against Małachowski, taking the win with a throw of 69.69 m.[1] He defended his world title at the2011 World Championships in Athletics with a winning mark of 68.97 m.
In May 2012, Harting threw a personal best of 70.31 m at the Hallesche Werfertage Meeting, clearing seventy metres for the first time.[2] At the2012 European Athletics Championships inHelsinki, Finland, Harting won the gold medal by throwing 68.30 m.[3] In the 2012 London Olympics, he won the gold medal in discus throwing.
He won his third straight world championship title at the2013 World Championships in Moscow. In 2014, he retained the European title.
Harting is known for exuberant victory celebrations, including ripping the shirt off his chest, running with a German flag over the hurdles from thehurdles race,[4] placingmascots on his shoulders and jogging on the track.
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | German Sportsman of the Year 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
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European Athletics Championships champions in men'sdiscus throw | |
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