Action from the women's hammer competition (© Getty Images)
Since the women’s hammer was added to the programme at the 1998 edition of these championships, Cuba has yet take a gold medal in nine editions. But with world U20 leader Ayamey Medina donning their colours in Bydgoszcz, it may prove 10th time lucky for the Caribbean nation.
Medina catapulted herself to the top of the 2016 world U20 lists with an area U20 record of 68.98m in La Habana in late May, a repeat of which could see her take gold here.
But she may have to produce something close to her best to repel the challenge of Ukraine’s Viktoriya Holda, who added three metres to her PB when throwing 67.33m in Kirovohrad back in April. Holda was actually beaten at the Ukrainian U20 Championships in Kiev last month and the winner there, Viktoriya Sakhno, will square off with her once again in Bydgoszcz.
Norway’s Beatrice Nedberge Llano is another expected to contend for the title. Despite not having thrown as far as Medina and Holda, she may well enter as favourite given her superior consistency.
Llano threw a big PB of 67.26m in the thin air of Potchefstroom, South Africa back in January and has surpassed the 60-metre barrier at all of her eight competitions this summer. Her most recent effort of 66.24m came when winning the U20 international in Mannheim, and a reproduction of that may well be good enough for gold.
Anastasiya Maslova of Belarus is another worthy of the utmost respect, having thrown a PB of 66.38m to win the National Championships in Grodno last month.
Australia’s Alexandra Hulley has also been in sparkling form all season, breaking her own national U20 record with a 65.75m throw in Sydney in late May. She finished runner-up to Llano in Mannheim and will be hoping to turn the tables on her Norwegian rival in Bydgoszcz.
Krista Tervo of Finland, Haley Showalter-Stevens of the US and Sara Fantini of Italy are also likely to be in the shake-up for places on the podium.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF
