Having thrown a world leading mark of 58.19 in Nanning this April, China’s Yu Wang entered the final as a leading favourite only to see her compatriot Xuejun Ma take the world junior record with a season’s best of 57.85 with her very first throw of the competition.
A Chinese woman has now won this title at every edition of the World Juniors since 1992, a remarkable record!
Wang’s opener of 54.48, ensured it was a Chinese “one two”, with Russia’s Darya Pishchalnikova holding the bronze medal position with 54.39 after Round 1 was completed.
Although Wang improved her best to 56.61 with her third throw, to move into second place, she was shunted out of the medals in the final round.
First, Pishchalnikova came up with a tremendous throw of 57.37 to move straight up to silver and then Germany’s Nadine Muller threw 57.13 to claim the bronze medal spot. Russia’s Svetlana Ivanova also kept her best throw for last, moving into fifth with 51.86.
