Germany's European champion Betty Heidler broke the world hammer-throw record on Saturday by more than a meter at a meet in Halle, Germany.

The 27-year-old threw a distance of 79.42 meters, overtaking 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 meters off her personal best of 77.12 meters, which she achieved during the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Earlier in the competition, Heidler broke the previous national German record with an opening throw of 77.17 meters and is now the favorite for the event at the world championships to be held in August in Daegu, South Korea.