2007 - End of Year Reviews - THROWS

MonteCarloIn the second part of their eight peice review of the highlights of the 2007 Athletics year, A. Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava survey the THROWS.

MEN - Throws

Shot Put

American Reese Hoffa in 2007 put together the perhaps most impressive seasonal record in the history of the event: Competing 21 times (6 times indoors, 15 times outdoors) he compiled two at 22 metres, fifteen at 21 metres and four at 20 metres with 21.37 as his average and 20.64 as his shortest mark! He did this during a period of eight months competing – outside of his native US – in no less than 10 different nations on three different continents!

It was not a perfect year in the sense that he won all those meets – he had a handful of non-wins – but the key is that he never had a bad meet. To lose when you perform way beyond 21 metres is never a failure, it is just meeting someone who also puts brilliantly.

Hoffa's countryman Christian Cantwell also had a great collection of long efforts but he did have a number of not too good meets. Finishing 5th with a mere 20.10 in the US Trials missing the Osaka ticket was one but he also had five meets – including the WAF – in Europe between 19.51 and 20.25. So meritwise it was rather Adam Nelson – 2nd in Osaka, 2nd in WAF – that deserved the No 2 ranking for the year.

The Shot Put very much remained an exclusive US and European business in 2007. On the World list athletes from these two areas occupy the top-12 positions – 5 for US and 7 for Europe – and this was also reflected in Osaka where the duo Hoffa-Nelson was followed by six Europeans. The greatest consistency by the Europeans were shown by Holland's Rutger Smith (4 meets just beyond the 21m-line, 4th in WCh and 6th in WAF) and by Belarus's Andrey Mikhnevich (3rd in WCh and in WAF).

Looking further down the World list everything seem to indicate that the current US/Europe domination will live on at least in the near future: Out of the 42 athletes surpassing 20 metres this outdoor season only 5 were not from Europe or the US.

Shot Put - 2007 World Lists

Discus Throw

2007 was the year that will go down in the history of the Discus Throw as that when Virgilijus Alekna was dethroned. But it remains to be seen whether this really was permanent changing of the guard or just the passing consequence of an injury untimely sustained in the final preparations for Osaka.

Because before the injury the 2007 Alekna had been just as strong as ever (or perhaps even stronger than ever?): 13 straight wins with 69.48 the almost incredible average distance. Then after the injury he averaged 65.16 in his four meets, so the cause was certainly very obvious.

But at the same time it must be stated that the athlete that claimed the Discus throne – Estonian Gerd Kanter – is a thrower of extraordinary capacity in his own right. This summer he averaged 68.30 for his 24 competitions, so for Alekna to be capable of reclaiming the No 1 position he will absolutely need to rediscover his very best form.

Behind the undisputed top-2 this year brought a clear indication of a younger generation making itself more prominent in an event that probably is the one where experience is most significant. Leading that "charge" is Germany's Robert Harting (age 22) the surprise silver medallist in Osaka. Harting is closely followed by athletes like Egypt's Omar El Ghazaly (age 23, No 6 in Osaka), Iran's Ehsan Hadadi (age 22, No 7 in Osaka) and Poland's Piotr Malachowski (age 24, No 12 in Osaka).

But of course the real super prodigy of Discus Throwing is Ukraine's Mykyta Nesterenko who at the youthful age of 16 (but at the adult height of 2.02) got into the top-50 of the 2007 World list for seniors thanks to his incredible 62.79 with the 2 kg implement.

Discus Throw - 2007 World Lists

Hammer Throw

Ivan Tsikhan (Tikhon) of Belarus has in a rather unassuming and almost unnoticed manner in the last few years built a championship record that has now become quite impressive: 1st World Championships 2003, 2nd Olympic Games 2004, 1st World Championships 2005, 1st European Championships 2006 and now 1st World Championships 2007.

One reason he is not really recognised for this dominance is probably that he usually doesn't appear that dominant in the actual competitions. Rather he quite often has been on the verge of failure but somehow in the very last moment managed to save everything. The Osaka final provided another illustration of this:

Tikhon began with two fouls, just barely squeezed into the top-8 with his third throw, then fouled his fourth, moved into 4th place with his fifth before adding another three meters in his sixth and last to win by almost 1½ metres in the new World Leading mark of the year 83.63! Even a Houdini would have been proud over such an escape.

Also behind Tikhon in Osaka it was well-known names filling the places. This certainly remained an event were big surprising "splashes" into the World elite are non-existant. This is rather an event where you gradually grow into the elite. Even Tikhon had five not very successful appearances in major championships before he got that first medal in 2003.

80.00 for tenth place on the World list made 2007 somewhat below average statistically but what was highly remarkable remarkable with this year was that no less than seven of those ten threw beyond the 80m-line in the actual World Championship final!

If the Shot Put was almost exclusively US/Europe this is an event that is almost exclusively Europe only. Of the top-27 on the World list only No 3, 13, 18 and 24 are non-Europeans.

Hammer Throw - 2007 World Lists

Javelin Throw

After being dominated for seemingly decades by the likes of Jan Zelezny and Steve Backley the Javelin Throw skipped a couple of generations of throwers and already a couple of years ago were claimed by "generation 1982" headed by Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen and Finland's Tero Pitkämäki.

When it came to championships Thorkildsen had the early success winning the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 Europeans with a silver at the 2005 Worlds in between. Pitkämäki finished behind the Norwegian an all three occasions: 8th in 2004, 4th in 2005 (on hometurf) and 2nd in 2006.

But this year belonged to the Finn almost completely as he won all his 16 meets but two (where he was 2nd to Thorkildsen) and surpassed 87 meters in ten of those meets. And most importantly: Pitkämäki was the undisputed winner of the Osaka World Championships final leading from round 2 and putting the perfect cap on the win by sending his javelin beyond the 90m-line in the final throw of the competition.

Thorkildsen bothered all summer by a sore back was as just as clear No 2 being the only one to defeat Pitkämäki and by finishing in 2nd place in Osaka and in the WAF. The almost always injured American Breaux Greer had a brilliant start to the year (90 – 88 – 91 in his first three meets) but then new injuries held him back the rest of the summer. However, he did manage to get the Osaka bronze.

The third 90+ thrower of the year (Thorkildsen ended up with 89.51 as his best) Latvia's Vadim Vasilevskis also was hampered by injuries and typically his 90m meet in July was preceded by a 79m meet and followed by an 85m competition. But just like Greer he did manage to throw reasonably well in Osaka to finish 4th.

The major addition to the top group of throwers this summer was the ultra-consistent Swede Magnus Arvidsson who continued his "improve PB and level by some four meters per year" progression. Coming into 2007 with a 81.75 PB Arvidsson he produced 2x85, 7x84, 3x83, 2x82, 3x81 and 2x80! In 15 of his competitions he surpassed his pre-2007 personal best. His Golden League record was 5-7-4-4-3-2 and he actually picked up two wins over Thorkildsen.

In 2006 Finland was displaced as the No 1 javelin nation by Latvia that occupied positions 3-7-8 on the World list. 2007 saw the return to "normality" as Finland put throwers in positions 1-10-11-12 statistically while Latvia had to be content with Vasilevskis (3rd) being their only representative in the top-16.

As for the general depth 2007 was quite ordinary with approximately 40 throwers beyond 80 metres and with 76 metres being the cutoff for a place in the top-100.

Javelin Throw - 2007 World Lists

WOMEN - Throws

In the women’s throwing events it was a refreshing season. There were new stars, old stars and also some surprising results in Osaka. 23-year-old Valerie Vili, from New Zealand, emerged as the brightest star of the women’s scene. The former junior standout, 2001 World Youth champion and 2002 World Junior champion, had already taken the bronze in Helsinki 2005 and had only lost one competition, the World Athletics Final, in the 2006 season. Vili only competed in small competitions in Oceania and one in Japan before Osaka, but marked a famous win at the World Championships with her last round area record 20.54m. 39-year-old veteran Franka Dietzsch (GER) stayed at the top of Discus Throw with a world leader and World Champs gold, but there was a surprise winners in both the Hammer Throw and Javelin Throw.

Shot Put

Valerie Vili seemed very confident and determined about the 2007 season. The Kiwi athlete slowly improving her marks towards the 20m line and finally reaching the limit in August in a World Champs test competition in Cairns, Australia. Her series there was the best she’d had during her career with six measured puts and the even the sixth best reaching 19.59m.

In Osaka she did not survive that easily trailing by a few centimetres for the most of the competition. But she finally did hit the jackpot with her last round effort of 20.54m an Oceanian record and although the defending champion from 2005, Nadzeya Ostapchuk (BLR) was able to answer big time with a 20.48m season’s best with the last throw of the competition, it was not enough to beat Vili.

Vili did lose one competition in 2007 as well, again at the World Athletics Final, Ostapchuk bettered her that time by 5cm 20.45m to 20.40m. Nadine Kleinert (GER) added another medal with a bronze one in Osaka in addition to the 1999 and 2001 silvers at the World Championships.

There was a Chinese threat coming up too, they had three athletes in the top seven places in Osaka. China tops this event with 15 athletes on the world top 100 list. USA is a close second with 14 and Germany third with nine.

Shot Put - 2007 World Lists

Discus Throw

The defending 2005 World champion Franka Dietzsch added another gold winning her third World Championships gold in Osaka (1997 was her first title). The 39-year-old had a very impressive season winning 14 out of 18 competitions in 2007 and took the Osaka title with a decisive first throw of 66.61m.

It was a relatively quiet year for discus throwing, but again, like in 2006, Darya Pishchalnikova (RUS) found her best form at major championships. The young Russian won the 2006 European Championships with a personal best 65.55m and almost repeated that feat in Osaka setting another PB 65.78m, but this time it was only enough for a silver medal.

China is the best in this throwing event as well with 13 athletes on the world top 100 list. USA is second here as well with 12 and Germany, third with eight.

Discus Throw - 2007 World Lists

Hammer Throw

The women’s Hammer Throw season started with another World record* 78.61m from Tatyana Lysenko - that mark has not been ratified and she is currently provisionally suspended regarding a possible doping violation.
 
Taking Lysenko out of the equation, fellow Russian, 2006 European Championship silver medallist Gulfiya Khanafeyeva, had good early form too with 77.36m in May, but she was well out of that sort of form come Osaka in August. The Russian could not even reach 70m and Yipsi Moreno (CUB) was the favourite for the top spot in the final. The 27-year-old Cuban, who had won two successive World Championships in 2001 and 2003 and then got the silver in 2005, set a Caribbean record 76.36m in June.

But in Osaka there were more surprises to come. Ivana Brkljacic (CRO) won the qualification with a convincing 74.69m, but she too was below par in the final with only a 11th place finish (68.16m). Instead 24-year-old German Betty Heidler stepped up and threw 74.76m in round two which was narrowly enough for the gold and her first major championship title. Moreno lost by an extremely narrow margin of 2cm for a second World Champs silver and young Chinese Zhang Wenxiu bettered her fifth place finish from Helsinki two years ago to take the bronze with a 74.39m result.

USA is the top country in depth with 15 athletes in the world top 100 list. Russia is second with eight and Belarus and Germany tied for third at six.

Hammer Throw - 2007 World Lists

Javelin Throw

In the women’s Javelin, the 2005 World Championships silver medallist Christina Obergföll (GER), then with the European record of 70.03m, bettered that record throwing 70.20m distance at the European Cup Super League in Munich in June. The German, who had a disappointing 2006 season and was left out of the medals in Gothenburg Euro Champs, had a perfect start to the summer winning all of her nine competitions before Osaka.

But in Japan her problems started in the qualification where she had to fight hard to beat the 60m limit and although her start in the final was better, she ended up with another silver behind 26-year-old Czech Barbora Spotakova who set two national records during the World Championships final winning with a 67.07m third round effort. Obergföll managed her best of 66.46m with her last throw.

Multi-talented Spotakova went on to mark another big win at the World Athletics Final setting another NR of 67.12m. She has a Heptathlon best of 5873 points in 2000 and still continues to compete in other events as well. In the winter she made it to the 60m hurdles National Indoor Championships final setting a personal best 8.68s in the heats.

Germany is the best country here with 10 athletes on the world top 100 list. China has eight for second with Russia and Finland tied for third at six.

Javelin Throw - 2007 World Lists

IAAF