Robert Szpak of Poland celebrates the gold medal in the Men's Javelin Final (© Getty Images)
The Polish fans inside the Zawisza Stadium were sent into ecstasy as Robert Szpak secured gold in a high-class competition in which the top five all claimed personal bests.
Every championships needs a home winner and Szpak, who was a distant tenth at the 2007 European Junior Championships, had raised expectations after qualifying first for tonight’s final.
Feeding from the energy of the fanatical home support, Szpak’s lifetime best throw of 78.01m in round three proved decisive as Poland secured its first gold medal of the championships.
In the wake of victory he said: “I did not expect a result such as this, a new PB. I have been training for eight years and all my success has been down to my coach. Before the competition he told me to show the opposition what I’m capable of.”
Egypt’s Ihab Al Sayed Abdelrahman established early control of the competition with a national junior record of 76.20m in the opening round ahead of Szpak (71.47).
But the 18-year-old Pole, who plans to study at university in Bydgoszcz, nudged closer to contention in round two with a 73.67m effort before hurling his gold medal winning throw in round three.
The Egyptian responded with 75.72m in round four but Szpak would not be denied.
The battle for the minor medals exploded into life in the final round. Latvia’s Ansis Bruns displaced Australia’s Hamish Peacock from the bronze medal position with a 75.31m effort.
Jaako Talvite of Finland then improved to 74.47m to shift up to fourth and Peacock launched his last effort out to a new personal best of 74.44m, but had to settle for fifth.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
