Report12 Jul 2012


Barcelona 2012 - Event Report - Men's Discus Throw Final

FacebookTwitterEmail

Fedrick Dacres after winning the discus at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona (© Getty Images)

The World leader at 64.22 Praczyk Wojciech of Poland kicked off the contest with a fine throw of 62.66 to take the early lead ahead of eventual winner Fredrick Dacres’s 60.46. The Jamaican kept his momentum in round 2 with a career best of 62.80 to rise to the top spot while the Pole fouled his three following attempts.

The next athlete able to exceed the 60m barrier was South Africa’s Gerhard De Beer, whose second round was measured at 60.13. He then backed that bronze medal position thanks to further heaves of 61.25 in round 3 and 61.57 in round 4 while Brazil’s Felipe Lorenzon came close thanks to a massive career best of 61.18 in his third effort.

There were no major changes in round 5 but the final series of throws became really exciting as Praczyk’s desperate last effort reached 62.75 barely five centimetres short of the gold medal. Having already secured the gold medal, Dacres unleashed his fourth 60m+ throw of the evening at the very last attempt of the contest.

Some minutes before, Russia’s Victor Butenko, who held the season’s second farthest throw in 62.09, was about to strip De Beer off the bronze medal as his 1.750kg discus landed at 61.48 just nine centimetres behind the South African’s best effort. Still Butenko overtook Lorenzon to finish fourth as the Brazilian fouled his closing effort.

The first five aside, the only other thrower surpassing the 60m mark was Canada’s Jordan Young thanks to a 60.44 fourth round release while the USA’s Dalton Rowan set twice a new career best, 58.75 in round 1 and 59.31 for seventh with his last throw.

Born 18-years ago in a land of world-class sprinters, Dacres made history by taking the first ever gold medal for Jamaica at a throwing event.

Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF
Pages related to this article
DisciplinesCompetitions
Loading...