LA: Hudson’s European Championship gold as the highlight of a successful team

“The motto of the entire European Championship was two genders, two disciplines, two medals. We have now achieved that.” Hudson was only awarded the medal on Wednesday evening on the Medal Plaza in front of the Olympic Stadium, and her next goal after returning home is clear: “The medal photo with Luki is a must!”

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Since Högler brought Hudson from Lower Austria onto his team a year and a half ago after consulting with Weißhaidinger, the two athletes have been encouraging each other, pushing each other through rain training and competing against each other – as far as possible. “We never ask each other how the strength training was or how the jump training was, but actually always how the throwing was. We both know that on day X it’s all about the best throw. We always want the other to be doing well and are happy about the other’s successes,” Hudson told APA.

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Högler explained that he had also applied “Luki’s best practice” to Hudson. The method was successful. “And now we are European champions.” Behind the successes are a large team, top-class know-how, modern training equipment and a lot of scientific work. “People always believed that you could become an Olympic champion through voluntary work. That’s not possible. Nobody does that. If someone is better than me with two hours a day, I’ll stop immediately and let them do my job,” said Högler, explaining the great effort.

After the European Championship comes the Olympic Games

The focus is already on Paris, because after the European Championships comes the Olympic Games. The final preparations will begin on June 17th. While Weißhaidinger still has to work on the flight curve, Hudson says he needs to work on the position of his left shoulder. “It should be further down,” said Högler immediately after the medal coup. Otherwise, he didn’t have much to complain about. “Taking risks in the first round worked out perfectly. It’s never been like that before.”

The throw-in wasn’t particularly good, the duo agreed. After the first attempt in the competition, Hudson, who was wearing a blue start number as Europe’s best of the year, gave a signal that meant “that was probably nothing”. But when 64.62 m were measured, she thought it was a mistake. In the end, it was the winning distance. Silver went to Serbian Adriana Vilagos (64.42), and bronze went to Norwegian Marie-Therese Obst (63.50).

“I’m proud of her. It was very difficult beforehand. Vicky was ill three or four times, then she had back problems. We always reacted quite cleverly. When difficulties arise, we can always adapt the training immediately. And that’s what sets us apart,” said Högler. Another important piece of the puzzle on the way to European Championship gold was fifth place last year at the World Championships in Budapest, which gave her confidence, said Hudson. “It’s very important that you lose your fear of winning or medals, in a positive sense. That you simply believe in yourself more,” noted the coach.