packed day three at the IAAF World Junior Championships provided the first World Junior record to be set here in Bydgoszcz this week.
European Junior champion Vira Rebryk of the Ukraine turned her continental success into World glory as her second round effort landed at a World Junior record distance of 63.01m. It was an improvement of 8 centimetres over the previous standard set in 2003 by China’s Juan Xue.
Rebryk, who was second at the last edition of these championships in Beijing two years ago, improved on her previous best by a metre and a half leaving the rest of the competitors almost four metres adrift.
“I expected to win here but I didn’t expect the record,” she said. “I only did what my coach told me to do. When I saw the mark it was heart breaking, unbelievable!”
China’s second best athlete coming into the final, Lingwei Li set a new personal best 59.25 to take silver while her compatriot and world leader before tonight’s final Li Zhang ended a disappointed fourth with 56.68 more than five metres off her PB.
In third, Tatjana Jelaca of Serbia set a national record 58.77 to take her country’s fourth ever medal at these championships.
In seventh, Anna Wessman of Sweden also set a national record with 54.12.
Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
