Another Titan takes an early exit from the Road to Paris. Once again, injuries are the main culprit behind the saddening news. As the 2024 Olympics creep closer, the world’s top track and field athletes are doing everything they can to stay on top of their games. However, despite their caution, injuries continue to rear their ugly heads at every unexpected turn, and a German sensation has become their latest prey.

For the 2017 World Championships gold medalist and German record holder Johannes Vetter, the Paris Games could have been his chance for redemption after his ninth-place finish at the last Olympics in Tokyo. However, due to his seemingly never-ending struggle with injuries, even that now looks like a distant dream.

Track and field celebrity crashes out of the race to Paris

In his Instagram post from hours ago, Vetter gave his fans an update on his physical condition. Captioned “T-421 days,” the post shows the 31-year-old on a hospital bed with some medical apparatus attached to his chest. The caption might denote the time the javelin-throwing star will need to recover fully. However, as he faces a challenging road to regain his top form, Vetter will have no choice but to watch his colleagues deliver their best performances in the French capital.

The latest post only confirms the fear that many of his fans had started to build up from a couple of weeks ago. There, Vetter revealed that the lingering shoulder injury that kept him from performing at tournaments with full force for the past couple of years once again showed his vicious teeth. “The setback hit in early March. Workout felt a stabbing pain in my elbow. It quickly became clear that surgery was inevitable,” wrote Johannes in his older IG post and fans were already worried that the old foe would once again snatch another opportunity from the track and field star to show the world what he’s made of.

Vetter’s shoulder trouble has been a recurrent issue since the conclusion of the last Olympics. First reported in 2022, the injury limited Johannes to only two meets that year. In 2023, the Dresden native competed in only four events, with his best throw of the year being 80.82m. As the javelin thrower with the most above-90m throws in history, these results were disheartening to see. At the German Championships held last month, Vetter finished with a disappointing sixth place, achieving a distance of 73.16m.

When Johannes traveled to South Africa in December last year for a training camp in Stellenbosch, his long-awaited return seemed imminent. Yet, as the world’s biggest sporting event approaches, Vetter has no choice but to be a spectator from the sidelines.