News19 Aug 2008


Women's Javelin Throw qualification

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Barbora Spotakova throws 67.69m to lead the qualifiers for the women's javelin final (© Getty Images)

Thursday’s final (21 Aug) looks set to be a battle for gold between Czech World champion Barbora Spotakova and Germany’s European record holder Christina Obergföll. These two women, are the fourth (Spotakova) and second furthest (Obergföll) throwers of all-time, and dominated their respective pools with 67.69m and 67.52 automatic qualifications obtained on their first and only releases.

With PBs of 69.15 (2008) and 70.20 (2007) respectively the 27-year-old Czech, and one year younger German are evenly matched. Obergföll, twice a World silver medallist has a best this year of 67.72.

Both looked smooth and relaxed in  their approach and release, a class apart form the rest of the other 52, yes, 52 athletes, who along with our two protagonists were divided into two qualification pools of 27 throwers.

With 61.50m the automatic mark to get to the final, Spotakova topped Group A, and Obergföll, Group B, with a total of eight women managing that distance or better.

It is very likely we will be treated to a 70m competition when they rejoin in battle on Thursday.

Unless World record holder and defending Olympic champion Osleidys Menendez of Cuba, who has had a lot of injury trouble in the last couple of seasons, can suddenly recapture top form – she qualified for the final as one the four best losers with 60.51 – then the likelihood of the gold medal going elsewhere is remote.

Hey, but we said that before the men’s Shot Put last Friday (15), and look what happened to the favourites then!

If there is to be a surprise could it come from Russia’s 2005 European Junior champion, Mariya Abakumova? Now 22-years-old, Abakumova on 2 August in Irkutsk, at one of the Russian Olympic team’s competitions in preparation for Beijing, threw a national record of 67.25m. Today she was the fourth best qualifier with 63.48.

The athlete immediately ahead of the Russian in qualification is the most experienced and medalled athlete still competing in the event. Germany’s Steffi Nerius, now 36, has had numerous major championship podiums but has only once reached the top step, when she took the European title in 2006 ahead of among others, Spotakova (silver) and Obergföll (4th). The 2004 Olympic silver and 2007 World bronze medallist, Nerius always remains a threat as she is a proven competitor, and threw 63.94 today behind the Czech.

Also coming from Group A were the automatic qualifiers, Mercedes Chilla of Spain (61.81) and China’s 2005 19-year-old Li Zhang  (61.77), the 2005 World Youth champion, while the remaining automatics from Group B were Britain’s Goldie Sayers (62.99) and Pole Barbara Madejczyk (62.81).

Making up the final numbers to 12, as well as Menendez who we have already mentioned, there was Sinta Ozolina whose 60.13m was a Latvian record, Germany’s Katherina Molitor who qualified with the penultimate throw of the competition (60.92), and Romania’s Felicea Moldovan-Tilea (60.81).

Notably missing the cut was Athens 2004 sixth placer Lavern Eve of the Bahamas, who at 43 is taking part in her fifth Olympics. Also not progressing were African record holder Justine Robbeson and US record holder Kim Kreiner, Greek Sávva Líka who was fifth in Osaka, and many time championship medallist MIkaela Ingberg of Finland.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

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