Germany's European champion Betty Heidler broke the world hammer-throw record by more than a metre at a meet in Halle, Germany, on Saturday. The 27-year-old threw 79.42m, well-clear of the previous mark of 78.30m thrown by Poland's world champion Anita Wlodarczyk, who set the old record in June 2010.
Heidler, world champion in 2007, also took more than two metres off her personal best of 77.12 metres, which she achieved during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. "The record isn't really a surprise," she admitted. "I was unusually relaxed, that comes from the security of knowing that I have put in the training."
Earlier in the competition, Heidler broke the previous national German record with an opening throw of 77.17 m and is now the favourite for the event at the world championships to be held in August in Daegu, South Korea.