Report30 Aug 2011


Men's Discus Throw - Final - Despite injury, Harting prevails

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Robert Harting celebrates retaining his Discus Throw World Championships title (© Getty Images)

A right knee pumped full with anti-inflammatory fluid scarcely hindered Robert Harting’s progress to a second consecutive gold medal in the men’s Discus throw final on Tuesday night in Daegu.


Harting had cut his preparatory program short, citing the need for more training. He had taken only two throws in qualifying, departing the field without achieving the automatic qualifying distance in the near-certainty he had done enough to reach the final (he had).


And he had been consulting with the team doctors on the afternoon of the final to decide whether he should compete. Whoever told him ‘yes’, has a story to tell now.


In any case, Harting started the competition like a man in a hurry to finish it. Throwing third in the order after Australia’s Benn Harradine had opened the competition with a 64.43m effort, Harting floated the disc out to 68.49m.


Prudence prevented him leaping for joy, but he was mighty pleased. Of the finalists, only Piotr Malachowski of Poland had matched that distance in 2011. So it looked a pretty safe bet for gold.


In the end, it was, but Harting continued to defy his wounded knee with a full series that went 68.49m, foul, 68.10m, 68.97m – his winning distance – and another foul when he had the competition won.


Gerd Kanter, the silver medallist in Helsinki 2005, winner in Osaka 2007 and bronze medallist in Berlin 2009, took the silver medal with his second round throw of 66.95m. The Estonian also had a 66.90m and a 66.13m, all of them better than the 66.08m which put the bronze medal around the broad shoulders of Ehsan Hadadi of Iran.


Mart Israel, the World University Games champion earlier this month in Shenzhen, made it two out of the top four for Estonia with a 65.20m Harradine dropped from third after the first round, to fourth and then fifth, the best performance by an Australian in a World championships discus competition.


Beijing Olympic and Berlin World championships silver medallist Malachowski had a shocker he would much rather forget. His first three throw produced a 58.78m, a foul and then a 63.37m which momentarily put him in the top eight. The celebrations immediately turned sour when India’s Vikas Gowda put him back out again with the very next throw.


Another to depart at the half-way point was Spain’s Mario Pestano, third among the finalists on distance thrown this year.


Gowda’s seventh place in 64.05m was likewise India’s best ever result.


Len Johnson for the IAAF


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