With 15 women qualifying automatically for tonight’s final (18.45m or better), it is easier to say who didn’t progress to the contest for medals than who did!
Essentially the two notable names to miss out were defending champion Yumileidi Cumba of Cuba, and Belarussia’s Sydney 2000 champion Yanina Pravalinskay-Karolchyk, with 17.15 and 17.79 they were lost in today’s deep tide of quality.
World outdoor and indoor champion Valerie Vili of New Zealand and Belarussia’s Nadzeya Ostapchuk who was the global gold medallist in Helsinki two years before and heads this year’s lists with 20.98, progressed with ease into the final thanks to first round puts of 19.73 and 19.08. Vili’s mark was the best of the qualification round overall, topping out Group A, while Ostapchuk’s heave was the second furthest release of the second pool of competitors.
There will be a complete squad of Chinese to keep the crowd pumped up. 19 year-old Gong Lijiao's 19.46m PB, which headed Group ‘B’ is the best junior result in the Shot Put since 1994 (Cheng Xiaoyan's Asian junior rec, 20.02m). She will be joined by 2008 World Indoors bronze medallist Li Meiju whose 19.18 was a PB and Li Ling (18.60). All three were finalists in last summer’s World championships in Osaka.
While the host will have the only full compliment in the final, Belarussia, Cuba, Germany, Russia and the USA will each have pairs of putters.
Backing up Ostapchuk for Belarus will be Natallia Mikhnevich who is second in the world’s standings for 2008, and qualified with a first round 19.11.
Cuba might have lost their Olympic champion – she hasn’t been in form so it is of no real surprise - but will still be well represented by Misleydis Gonzalez (18.91) and Mailan Vargas (18.47).
Nadine Kleinert of Germany, the Olympic silver medallist in Olympia in 2004, and Christina Schwanitz who finished second to her in the national champs both went through via 18.52 and 19.09 bests respectively.
Anna Omarova, 8th at the 2007 World champs and at this winter’s World Indoors, was the best of the Russians (18.74) but it took her three attempts to achieve. Olga Ivanova made it with her final round fling of 18.46.
National champion Michelle Carter (18.49), and compatriot Jillian Camarena whose 18.51m was a season’s best, make up the US pairing in the final.
Chiara Rosa progresses (18.74) but her fellow Italian European Indoor champion Legnante Assunta does not.
Prediction – Vili vs Belarussia with a Chinese medal more than an outside possibility as their trio are inspired by 90,000 unified voices chanting ‘ China, China, China…”.
Chris Turner for the IAAF
