Estonia’s Margus Hunt became the first junior athlete ever to win a Shot Put / Discus Throw gold medal double as he added an impressive 20.53m Shot Put National Junior record to his 67.32m World Junior record win four days ago in the discus.
Hunt’s mighty effort came in round four a few minutes after he had jumped into the lead with his first national junior record of the night, a third round effort 20.17m.
Mostafa Abdul El-Moaty of Egypt who increased on his first round lead of 20.05m with a second round 20.14m could not counter the Estonian’s tremendous result although the 19-year-old African was the most consistent competitor this evening with four of his throws going beyond the 20 metres line.
The bronze medal went to the Chinese national junior champion Yanxiang Guo whose third round effort was measured at 19.97m.
There was a controversy for the rest of the standings as John Hickey’s second round attempt that was originally called a foul was reinstated at the end of the competition following a protest from the US team which was accepted by the competition judges.
Hickey’s attempt was measured at 19.86m but given that the judges’ decision was to come at the end of the final, his second-round mark on the board remained a foul, as originally called from the field judges, for the time being.
The top eight athletes after round three, a list which didn’t include Hickey who was lying in last with a third round 18.04m, were given another three attempts. Hickey was also given three extra attempts considering that if the US protest was withheld he would have easily made it into the final.
Eventually, the American athlete was reinstated and his 19.86m were included in the results sheets his official result being a fourth place finish.
As a result of his reinstatement, the last three attempts of South African Jan Petrus Hoffman, the Marrakesh World Youth champion, who was lying in eighth after three rounds, were annulled. Those included a would-be fourth place effort of 19.90m which came with his sixth attempt.
