Report01 Sep 2011


Men's Javelin Throw - Qualification - Berlin silver medallist Martinez easiest to qualify

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Guillermo Martinez of Cuba motivates the crowd during the men's javelin throw qualification round (© Getty Images)

1 September 2011Guillermo Martinez of Cuba threw his javelin into the ground and his hat into the ring here with a first round qualifying effort of 83.77m which allowed him to wander back to his bag, pack up and look forward to Saturday night’s final.


After a quick de-brief with his coach in the stand on the bottom bend – early night for the coach too – the 30-year-old who finished 10th at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, ninth two years later in Osaka and second two years ago in Berlin, departed the scene.


Only one other man managed to surpass the automatic qualifying distance of 82.50m – Russia’s Dmitri Tarabin threw 82.92 – but most of the main contenders, including Norway’s Olympic and World champion Andreas Thorkildsen, who had a conservative best of 81.83, managed to progress. Even if they weren’t doing so in great style.


When Fatih Avan of Turkey, throwing in the second and weaker group, staked a place in the final with a spear that flew out to 81.94, it meant that the 12th man in – and he just managed to stay there with a best of 81.03, was one of the very few, if not the only, athlete to have been selected for a World Championships by public demand.


Antti Ruuskanen, an experienced 27-year-old with a best of 87.33, did not win a place for these World Championships at the Finnish trials. But the decision to select a man who did – 22-year-old Sampo Lehtola – provoked fierce debate within Finnish athletic circles.


Many athletics followers maintained the more experienced man would be a more suitable choice for Daegu, given that Lehtola’s best was 83.77.


In the end, it was the older man who came – and he justified his place. For his famous colleague Teri Pitkamaki, however, failure to progress was no surprise. The 2007 World champion has suffered from an infected lung and a nerve problem since he won the Samsung Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, and has lost much of his power. Here he could only manage 79.46, finishing five places outside the 12 finalists.


There was disappointment too for Petr Frydrych of the Czech Republic, who has figured well on the Diamond League circuit this year but who finished 24th here with 76.18.


Stuart Farquhar of New Zealand produced one of the best efforts of the night to win the second qualifying group with 82.10m.


Thorkildsen’s first effort seemed almost casual, slung out to 79.36. He sauntered back to the other throwers, scuffing his hands together. It would probably be enough, but you sensed he might want to make matters certain next time round. He advanced, but not dramatically.


His compatriot, Vitezslav Vesely, had put more obvious effort into the previous delivery, 79.99. But he, like Thorkildsen, seemed less than impressed.


Next up, Matthias De Zordo brought the first real attack to the competition. The 23-year-old German went for it wholeheartedly, and the spear sailed out to 82.05. It proved more than enough to secure a competitive return to the stadium.


Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF


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