Throws Preview - World Athletics Final

Tuesday 30 August 2005

Monte-Carlo – The third edition of the IAAF World Athletics Final takes place in Monaco on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 September 2005. Following on from yesterday’s highlighting of the Hammer Throw competitions, which take place in Szombathely, Hungary on Saturday 3 September, due to technical constraints within the Stade Louis II, we are now pleased to begin the first of our five event category previews with the remaining men's and women's Throws.

	Adam Nelson motivates himself before the final throw (Getty Images)

The start-list of the World Athletics Final is decided according to the IAAF World Rankings, with athletes who are in the top 7 positions (11 positions for the races of 1500m and over) in each event automatically qualifying. 

The date upon which the IAAF Rankings are calculated with respect to the World Athletics Final, is after the final TDK Golden League meeting of the season in Berlin on Sunday 4 September.

Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible given that no one can predict the results which might occur during the course of the next week or if an athlete is available or fit enough to compete.

 

	Virgilijus Alekna (Getty Images)

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THROWS

 

Men's Shot Put

 

	Andrus Varnik of Estonia (Getty Images)

With his 21.73 winning toss in Helsinki, the second furthest of the year, Adam Nelson finally broke through his frustrating string of runner-up finishes. After a pair of silver medal showings in the previous two World Championships and Olympic Games, Nelson's day had come. It was only the third victory in seven outings this season for Nelson, and in Monte Carlo the 30-year-old American will look to improve on yet another runner-up performance --last year he was second in Monaco and won the final in 2001-- to cap his season. 

Last year, the Dane Joachim Olsen followed up his Olympic bronze medal performance at Olympia with the title in Monte Carlo. This year he will be even more eager to defend his title after a disappointing seventh place finish in Helsinki. Besides his off-day at the World Championships, the European Indoor champion has been consistent, never finishing lower that third, and with four 21-metre efforts to his credit.

2003 champion Christian Cantwell couldn’t do better than fifth in Helsinki, but with six competitions in which he reached 21 metres, including three of the year’s top six throws, the American champion has put together one of the most solid overall records of the season. American Reese Hoffa didn't get to compete in Helsinki after his fifth place showing at the U.S. trials, but otherwise he's displayed strong consistency this season, reaching beyond 21 metres on three occasions and is expected to be in the hunt as well.

 

	Nadezhsa Ostapchuk of Belarus wins the women's Shot Put (Getty Images)

Men’s Discus Throw 

With just one loss in 15 competitions this season, two-time World and Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna is clearly the man to beat. The 33-year-old Lithuanian has not only dominated the competition, he’s left his mark on the world lists as well, reaching beyond 70 metres in four meetings with ten of the 11 best efforts of the year; only one other thrower has reached that still-formidable barrier this year.

That honour belongs to Estonian Gerd Kanter, who reached 70.10 in late April, his second national record of the spring. The Helsinki silver medallist spent the rest of the season chasing Alekna, but as the only other thrower to reach beyond 68 metres - he’s done so five times - he’s as clear a favourite for the second spot as Alekna is for the first.

 

	Franka Dietzsch of Germany takes gold in the Discus Throw (Getty Images)

With his victory in Tallinn nine days after he finished sixth in the Helsinki final, South African Frantz Kruger was the only man to beat Alekna this year, but with just one other victory outside of the early-season domestic season, Kruger will have a lot more to prove in Monaco. But surprises are nothing new at the World Athletics Final. Last year, Mario Pestano of Spain, 11th in Helsinki, took top honours just a few weeks after not advancing to the Olympic final.  

Men’s Javelin Throw

The men’s Javelin contest pits the top four finishers from Helsinki; World champion Andrus Varnik of Estonia, the silver medallist Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, Russia’s bronze medallist Sergey Makarov, and fourth place finisher Tero Pitkämäki of Finland. Of the quartet, the youngest is the Finn, who threw a world-leading 91.53 personal best in late June, and backed that up with 90.54m to win in Oslo, and is may be the hungriest. Unable to live up to the massive expectations of the Helsinki javelin-crazed fans - his best effort in Helsinki was the shortest of his 14 competitions - Pitkämäki will be the most eager to end on a high note. He has had some minor shoulder problems, and though taking a 88m+ win in Zürich, lost in Brussels to the Russian and the Norwegian.

 

	Osleidys Menendez poses in front of the World record board (Getty Images)

Makarov has again pieced together a consistent season, and his the year’s only other 90 metre thrower thanks to his 90.33m at his national championships. Thorkildsen, last year’s surprise Olympic champion, was consistent as well, twice extending the Norwegian national record, first to 86.82 and again to 87.66. Varnik, less consistent overall than the others, explained by his management as being due to blood pressure problems produced the big throw when it mattered most, and is certainly a threat here as well. 

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A parade of World champions and medallist is expected in the women’s throws as well.

Women's Shot Put

Undefeated in six competitions this year, World champion Nadezhda Ostapchuk is the overwhelming favourite. The 24-year-old from Belarus reached beyond 20 metres in five of those competitions, topped by her 21.09 world leader and national record from Minsk in July.

Olga Ryabinkina, the Helsinki silver medallist, has been equally consistent, but just a notch or two behind Ostapchuk. The European Throwing Challenge winner put together a solid 2005 campaign, reaching 19 metres or better in five of her six competitions, topped with her 19.65 personal best to win the European Cup in Florence.
 
Veteran Valerie Adams-Vili of New Zealand, the Helsinki bronze medallist, assembled a consistent season of her own, reaching 19 metres in all but one of her 10 competitions. Her 19.87 effort in the qualifying round at the World Championships, was an Oceania record.

Women's Discus Throw

37-year-old Franka Dietzsch won her second Discus World title in Helsinki, and the German shows no signs of slowing down. With just two losses in 13 outings, the European Cup winner rose to the occasion in Helsinki, reaching a season’s best 66.56, her furthest effort since 2001, to capture the gold.

Natalya Sadova, the reigning Olympic champion, pieced together a solid season leading up to her silver medal in Helsinki. She lost only three of her ten competitions, finishing runner-up twice and third once, and is a solid threat to improve upon her second place finish from last year.

World leader Vera Pospisilova-Cechlova (66.81) returns to Monaco seeking her third straight World Athletics Final title. Her third place showing at the World championships was the only loss for the 26-year-old Czech since early June.

Women’s Javelin Throw

Fresh from her 71.70m World record** that propelled her to her second World title, Olympic champion Osleidys Menendez is a strong favourite to defend her title. The 25-year-old Cuban lost just twice in ten competitions this year, and has four of the year’s ten-furthest throws.

Germany’s Steffi Nerius, second to the Cuban in Athens last year, was third in Helsinki; it was the only loss of the year for the 33-year-old, though she competed mainly in domestic competition. She did score an important win over Menendez at the Athens Super Grand Prix in early June, a week before claiming the European Cup crown.

Christina Obergföll produced the biggest surprise of the year when she unleashed her 70.03 European record for the silver medal in Helsinki. It was a near four-and-a-half metre improvement for the young German, who just turned 24 last week. Not as consistent overall as the others, her challenge will be to show that she can again rise to the occasion.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

 

The men’s Discus Throw, women’s Shot Put and Javelin Throw are scheduled for Friday 9 September, with the men’s Shot Put, Javelin Throw and women’s Discus held the following day.