Athens, GreeceThis evening's qualification competition for the men’s Javelin final which will take place on Saturday was quite extraordinary with the respect to the fact that ten of the twelve finalists qualified with their first attempts!
In terms of distance, the preliminary round followed the pattern of the whole season, as no one was able to better 87 metres, and there was little to separate the form of any of the major players. This will be one of the most open finals in Olympic history.
The Javelin Throw is in the process of a generational change. All the men who have ever thrown 90m with the ‘new’ spear are either retired from the sport, or 30 years-old or will turn so this year.
“I think the younger generation of throwers is coming up, I feel that,” was the opinion yesterday of three-time winner Jan Zelezny, 38. “I do not want to say that the older throwers will not be able to make good competitions anymore, but next year will see the final transition, that is my opinion.”
With the automatic qualification set at 81m, the reigning champion, and as of today newly elected IOC Athletes Commission member, proceeded with his first throw to the final (81.18) from Group B. So ‘old’ man Zelezny will compete for his fourth Olympic gold in two days time. History beckons.
From the same group, Zelezny’s arch rival, the four-time European champion Steve Backley, 35, edged nervously into the final as the last qualifier with a 80.64 best.
Overall, leading the 12 qualifiers (10 by right) was America’s Breaux Greer, 27, in Group A, who though his left leg was heavily strapped, managed to power to 87.25m, just short of his lifetime best / Area record of 87.39 which he set in June. However, he was heavily limping after the qualification round.
Second in the first pool, was World champion Sergey Makarov of Russia, 31, who looked confident with an 86.08m release. The silver medallist from Paris last summer, Andrus Varnik of Estonia, 26, also proceeded smoothly into the final with an 83.25, first attempt.
Carrying an injury in recent weeks has been another Russian, the world season leader (87.73), Alexandr Ivanov, 22, but he looked relaxed with an 82.18 qualifier from Pool B.
Also qualifying from this group was World Junior record holder Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, 22, (81.74), and 27 year-old Eriks Rags of Latvia (80.84).
However, the real surprise was Rags’ teammate Vadims Vasilevskis compatriot. The 22 year-old who started this year with a best of 81.92, and has improved this summer to 82.44, again performed better than expectation with a personal best of 84.43, overall the third best throw of the evening.
Keeping up their great throwing tradition, Finland can count on three competitors in the final on Saturday. Led by the two 29 year-olds, Esko Mikkola (83.64) and Matti Närhi (81.06) in the first group, and European U23 bronze medallist and national champion Tero Pitkämäki, 21, (82.04) from the second preliminary round section. The Finland which has won seven Olympic gold medals in the history of men’s Javelin throwing should not be discounted in the medal stakes on Saturday.
”I have a chance for top 8,” was the young Pitkämäki’s assessment of his own chances. “It’s good to see an IOC member competing in the final (referring to Zelezny). By the way I voted for him in the athletes' poll,” the Finn smiled.
None of the three Germans qualified. Most notably Boris Henry the World bronze medallist did not start, due to a shoulder injury.
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