Para athletics in numbers: Niko Kappel

Paralympic champion Niko Kappel will be hoping to go one better than his silver medal from Grosseto two years ago when he lines up at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin in two months’ time.

Here are the numbers behind Germany’s track and field star.

14.02 – Kappel set a new shot put F41 world record in Leverkusen, Germany, earlier this month – the first in his class to throw beyond the 14-metre mark.

1.40 – His height, in metres. Kappel competes in the F41 class for athletes of short stature.

1 – The German star only owns one shot put that he takes to competitions.

23 – Kappel’s age – he was born in Gmünd, Germany, in March 1995.

190 – The weight in kilograms that Kappel bench presses in training.

13 – Kappel was 13-years-old when he started throwing, having been inspired by his countryman Mathias Mester, who won silver at the 2008 Beijing Games.

2015 – The year Kappel made his senior international debut – at the Doha World Championships, where he won shot put F41 silver behind Poland’s Bartosz Tyszkowski.

4 – The number of major medals Kappel has won – including Paralympic gold in 2016 and the world title last year.