Then, some less successful years followed. He competed without reaching the final at the 2003 World Championships, the 2004 World Indoor Championships and the 2004 Olympic Games. He failed to reach the 17-metre mark at all in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 he experienced an improvement with 17.33 metres indoor (Ancona, February) and 17.24 metres outdoor (Turin, July), but failed to reach the final at both the 2006 World Indoor Championships and the 2006 European Championships. He did however win the European Cup Super League meeting in June, reaching 16.99 metres. In 2007 he again failed to reach 17 metres, and again failed to reach the final of a major competition, this time at the 2007 World Championships.