Klaudia Maruszewska in the javelin at the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016 (© Getty Images)
Coming into the IAAF World U20 Championships, few would have predicted that Poland’s Klaudia Maruszewska stood much chance of a medal. After all, the Polish athlete had a best of just 50.43m, several metres less than a horde of her competitors from around the world.
However, in an inspired effort in front of her home crowd on Wednesday night (20), the 18-year-old did not just win any medal, she won gold, unleashing a throw of 57.59m in the very first round. As soon as it left her hand, Maruszewska knew it was special, and in the end it was the throw that handed Poland their first gold medal in a women's event in the history of these championships.
Try as they might, it was an effort her competitors simply couldn’t surpass in the ensuing three rounds, as the Poles secured their second field event gold medal of the championships after Konrad Bukowiecki’s heroics in the men’s shot put on Tuesday.
Maruszewska laid down the gauntlet early in the competition, her opening effort forcing her rivals to find something special to depose her at the head of the standings.
Chu Chang of Chinese Taipei also produced a breakthrough effort in the first round, her throw of 55.35m briefly holding the lead and adding 70 centimetres to her best and breaking the national U20 record.
The first time Maruszewska’s mark truly came under threat was in the third round, with South Africa’s Jo-Ane van Dyk throwing 57.32m, Turkey’s Eda Tugsuz throwing 56.71m and Nikol Tabackova of the Czech Republic launching the spear 56.19m.
As the six top contenders advanced to the fourth round, Maruszewska seemed content to rest on her laurels, appearing to have picked up an injury in the previous rounds. That forced a nervous wait for her and the local fans as first Tabackova, then Tugsuz and van Dyk, tried their best to snatch the title.
However, none could improve on their previous best and Maruszewska soon set off in celebration, hugging her team coaches and her fellow world U20 champion, teammate Bukowiecki. "I knew I was capable of throwing further than ever before but I wasn’t expecting to throw as far as I did," said the champion.
Though Maruszewska’s gold was an upset, there were hints in the qualifying rounds that such a breakthrough was imminent. The Pole added four metres to her lifetime best there with a throw of 54.34m. On Wednesday evening, she added another three metres to that, her winning mark of 57.59m moving her to third on the 2016 world U20 list.
Not that she’ll put any weight on that relatively insignificant statistic, for when it mattered most, in the heat of a championship setting, she was the one who got it right – the sign of a true champion.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF
