Chinese athletes have won the two previous World Youth Championships but this year’s number one ranked thrower Xiaojing Lin and her mighty 55.05m best was absent.
The qualification standard was 46.00m a mark that many of the competitors had achieved on home soil but only Germany’s Kristina Gehrig achieved it today. Her 47.49m came on her very first throw. Naturally the 16 year old put on her warmup suit and passed on her final two throws, content to watch the others struggle. And struggle they did.
Nobody else from this group came close to the standard and were therefore forced to wait an agonising two hours to see if they might make into the dozen bound for the final. There were certainly some desperate expressions on their faces as they left the stadium.
Gehrig has plenty more in reserve. This season she threw 51.47m in Wiesbaden to solidify her place on the German team and must be heartened by what she saw of her competition.
The second group was led by the Australian Calista Lyon who also needed just one throw to advance. She recorded a throw of 46.09m. In the second round Lisandra Rodriguez of Cuba got on the board with a throw of 45.39 and the relief was palatable. After an opening foul she knew that, barring some divine intervention, she would be in the final. She improved to 45.53m on her final throw which ultimately gave her second place in the group.
The two group winners, on today’s form, appear to be strong medal prospects considering the calibre of the field. Indeed, the final qualifying position went to Katalin Csaszar of Hungary with a throw of 39.96m.
Among those who qualififed was the American champion D’Andra Carter, daughter of Michael Carter, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the shot put.
