Tatyana Lysenko (RUS) (© Getty Images)
In women’s Hammer Throw, the overall performance level has steadily improved in the last few years. So a big leap forward could be expected, and this year the world has seen it.
A new World record was perhaps not all that big a surprise, but few people expected it from Tatyana Lysenko of Russia. After all, Lysenko was not successful as a junior, and last year at the Olympics in Athens she was a disappointment. Her PB was 71.54m.
So it was a surprise, when Tatyana Lysenko, now 21 years of age, threw a new Russian record of 75.95m in late June this year in Moscow. That could have been a one-off, but two weeks later at the Russian championship she got exactly the same result.
Another surprise was on the way. On July 15, Lysenko threw 77.06m in Moscow. Romanian Mihaela Melinte’s World record was improved by 99 centimetres.
The big question in Helsinki will be whether Lysenko can deal with the pressure. Many of her rivals are far more experienced and several can throw over 70 metres even on a bad day.
One of the Lysenko’s main rivals is Olga Tsander of Belarus. She threw a new national record of 76.66m in July, but Tsander’s performances lack consistency.
Manuela Montebrun of France has thrown 74.66m and the Olympic champion from 2000, Kamila Skolimowska of Poland, has improved her country’s national record to 74.27m. On the other side of the Atlantic, Erin Gilreath threw a new US national record of 73.87m in June.
A surprising performance was that of Italian Ester Balassini, who threw 73.59m this season.
The old guard in this relatively new women’s event has not given up. Yipsi Moreno of Cuba has won two World Championship titles, in 2001 and in 2003. She lost to Skolimowska in Madrid and to Montebrun in Zagreb despite a mark of 73.88m. The Olympic gold medallist Olga Kuzenkova of Russia may well be in peak form in Helsinki and grab another medal, although in her home country she has been in Lysenko’s shadow this season. Kuzenkova’s best mark of the year is 73.59m.
Zhang Wenxiu of China bettered her own World Junior record when winning the Chinese championships in June with a winning mark of 73.24m. She recorded an early win in May in Osaka over Olga Kuzenkova and also has good performances outside China. She finished the Athens Olympics with a seventh place last season as an 18-year-old. The Germans are also a force to be reckoned with: Susanne Keil, 72.32m, Betty Heidler, 72.08m and Kathrin Klaas, 70.91m, should not be forgotten.
Helsinki 2005 media team
