Valerie Vili won the Shot Put World gold medal by 6 centimetres four weeks ago in Osaka. Today, she lost the World Athletics Final by 5 centimetres.
In a rematch of the World Championships Final, Nadezhda Ostapchuk of Belarus prevailed over the woman who beat her into second in Osaka with a new Championship record 20.45m. Vili’s best effort today wasn’t good enough to maintain her unbeaten record in ten competitions this year and the Oceania record holder had to settle for second with 20.40m.
“I’m totally fine with the result,” said Ostapchuk. “I had a good tactic. At the World Championships, I had a very god first attempt. This offered my rivals much time to counter. Today I did my first two attempts easy. Mentally I focused on the third and the fourth.”
Ostapchuk’s tactic paid off today. Vili took an early lead with an opening 20.06m which she backed up with 19.87m in the second while the Helsinki World champion improved her opening 18.66m to 19.45m.
Positions were reverted when Ostapchuk, throwing in fourth unleashed her winning effort and the 22-year-old New Zealander, throwing last, responded but her shot didn’t land quite as far.
Germany took third and fourth with Nadine Kleinart and Petra Lammert but both were more than a metre behind with 19.36m and 19.12m respectively.
Today's was Ostapchuk's third World Athletics Final title as she was victorious in Monte Carlo in 2004 and 2005.
Laura Arcoleo
