Rome (Dagbladet): Marie-Therese Obst (28 years old) won Norway's first medal in the women's javelin throw at the age of 24 years. With a personal best of 63.50 metres, she took the bronze medal at the Olympic Stadium.
Obst lost her grandmother while on holiday in Rome when she was 13, so for her to win the medal here was very special. She promised her grandmother that she would win a medal in the Olympics.
– The last conversation I had with her on the phone was that I promised her that. And I feel like I've achieved some of that, even if it's not an Olympic medal – yet. I think she cried a lot today, she was a very emotional lady. “She was very proud of me, and I feel a little bit about how she felt now,” Obst tells Dagbladet after what came as a shock to many tonight.
Around his neck in the press area, Obst wore a very special piece of jewelry that his grandmother owned.
– It was hers and I got it after she died. This is almost always the case with me, says Obst.
– Did you think about it along the way?
– I did it. Between throws, I tried to lie down and not look at what was happening on the court, but just look up. I thought I wish she was watching what was happening here now, wherever she was. Hopefully I blew my longest throw which held on to the bronze for a little longer.
Big day: Marie-Thérèse Obst took EC bronze. Photo: Heiko Jung/NTB
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I fought back tears
Obst had to fight back tears several times in the press box facing the written press.
Because the contrast she experienced on Tuesday is amazing. She has suffered from depression and injury problems for nine years.
-It (contrast) is quite sick. Even though I'm not on social media, I do have a camera roll. As I look at some of my videos and photos from two years ago, I see on my face that I lost a lot of the spark of life, Obst says and continues:
– I looked in the mirror before the final today when I was going to the stadium, and it was nice to see Marie-Thérèse again, who I know. And Marie-Thérèse wants to participate in life again, wants to achieve her goals and wants to enjoy life again.
– Of course it was as you think, very nice and good, and I am very happy and very grateful. I have nothing but good feelings inside me now. “I don't know what to say, because my body is full of good feelings right now,” Obst says.
This has not been the case over the years.
depression
Among others, Obst won gold at the NM and the Nordic Championships in Finland in 2015. She improved year after year, before an injury nightmare led to disability and depression.
It went so far that she cut ties with her mother and friends. She was lonely and had difficulty waking up every day. So Obst chose to move to Athens, Georgia, USA.
The 28-year-old suffered, among other things, heel pain in both feet, elbow inflammation and bursitis in one shoulder, but the most serious injury she suffered was to her right shoulder – the same throwing arm. She was unable to throw the spear without bursting into tears due to the severe pain.
-You will never feel pain, but there are no injuries currently. I recovered without injury during the training period. It wasn't the case last year, because there was still a lot of pain from the operation, but I've trained well now as I've strengthened all the muscles around me, Obst told Dagbladet earlier this year.
– They say there are many roads to Rome, and my road was long and difficult, says Obst today.
She now lives in Sognsvan, near Olympiatuben, after returning to Norway in the summer of 2022.
The biggest goal of the season for the 28-year-old is the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
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