THROWS PREVIEW

Stuttgart, GermanyThe sixth edition of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September. We continue our event category previews with the THROWS.

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The entry list of the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the IAAF World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings.

After the conclusion of the last qualifying meeting before the World Athletics Final, the 7 Athletes having the highest number of points with their best 5 results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the World Athletics Final. For the races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The Athletes for the 8th and 12th (1500m and over) position will be invited at the discretion of the IAAF.

It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in the case of a tie for the qualification for the World Athletics Final, the Athlete with the best seasonal performance will be qualified. The IAAF will extend invitations, at its discretion, upon receipt of refusals or cancellations.

All qualified athletes are contacted to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.

Click here for the IAAF World Athletics Tour Standings

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MEN

Shot Put

The American trio of Adam Nelson, Christian Cantwell and Reese Hoffa dominated the 2008 campaign, but that meant little in Beijing when Tomasz Majewski tossed conventional wisdom aside as effortlessly as he tossed the Shot. The Pole peaked perfectly in Beijing, first with a 21.04m PB in qualifying, then again in the final with a 21.51 to take the gold.

Consistent since he struck bronze at the World Indoor Championships in March, Majewski nonetheless took a backseat to his American rivals, who have largely dominated the world lists.

Cantwell, the World Indoor champion, started strong in the spring as usual, took second at the notoriously difficult U.S. championships, and largely fulfilled expectations with a silver medal showing in Beijing. The WAF winner in 2003, Cantwell (21.76 SB) beat Majewski in their last meeting, reaching 21.39 in Dubnica, Slovakia, on Sunday.

Hoffa, the reigning World champion, took the U.S. trials with a 22.10m effort, the second farthest toss of the year. Following up with a solid 21.13 victory in London, he floundered in Beijing, finishing a distant seventh.

Nelson had the worst fortune in Beijing, where he was unable to improve on his back-to-back Olympic silver medal performances. Throwing with an injury, he failed to produce a legal throw in the final. Now on the mend, Nelson, the world leader with a 22.12m effort from early June, will be eager to make a successful rebound in Stuttgart.

Others in the hunt include Canadian Dylan Armstrong, who reached a national record 21.04 in Beijing, missing bronze by just a centimetre, early season world leader Dorian Scott (21.45) of Jamaica, and another American, Dan Taylor (20.85 SB).

Discus Throw

A year ago Estonian Gerd Kanter succeeded Virgilijus Alekna as World champion, and last month in Berlin he became the Olympic successor to the Lithuanian discus throwing legend. Throw into the mix that Kanter is also the world leader this season at 71.88m, and you have the recipe for ‘man to beat’.

Victorious in 11 of 16 competitions, he’s finished further back than second in only one of his defeats. The 29-year-old has only competed once since his Olympic triumph, throwing twice over 70m in Helsingborg, Sweden last Saturday confirming continues to be in top shape defend his WAF title.

Piotr Malachowski nearly pulled off an upset similar to his compatriot Majewski, but after leading for the first half of the competition, had to settle for silver in Beijing. Nonetheless the 25-year-old pieced together a strong season with national records of 66.65 and 68.65 before his 67.82 in Beijing. In Stuttgart he’ll be looking to improve on his third place finish of last year.

Although he was dethroned, Alekna at 36 isn’t ready to concede his decade-long dominance of the event. The bronze medallist in Beijing, he’s thrown beyond 70m twice this season (SB 71.25) and won his sole Olympic follow up in Padova with a 68.02 throw.

Iranian Ehsan Hadadi was the early season revelation, with a string of Asian records that topped out at 69.32 in Tallinn in early June. The 23-year-old had only one bad outing this season, failing to throw beyond 62m in the Beijing qualifying round, thus missing the final.

Another to watch is Spaniard Mario Pestano, a Beijing finalist who reached 69.50m in late July.

Hammer Throw

Slovenia’s Primoz Kozmus, a regular fixture at the WAF, turned Osaka silver into Beijing gold last month, winning the first track and field gold medal for his nation of just over two million.

Injury woes behind him, the 28-year-old has produced a near flawless season, collecting victories in 10 of his 11 competitions. Despite technical problems, he reached 82.02 to claim the victory in The Bird’s Nest, not far from his 82.30 national record set a year ago.

Hungarian national record holder Krisztián Pars has chiseled together one of his most consistent seasons, capped with a fourth place showing in Beijing. He’s collected eight victories on the year, and in most of the others, finished behind Kozmus. He’ll be looking for revenge here.

Others to watch include Beijing finalists Libor Charfreitag (80.45 SB) who was eighth in Beijing, and Polish veteran Szymon Ziólkowski, the 2000 Olympic champion, seventh in Beijing.

Javelin Throw

As has been the case for most of the season, the focus here will be on the continued rivalry between Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway and Finn Tero Pitkämäki.

Thorkildsen, still just 26, firmly etched his name into the event’s history books with a successful Olympic title defence, a performance underscored by a sterling 90.57m Olympic record and world leader. He’s produced five of the season’s best seven throws – a pair beyond 90m – and won six of his nine competitions. Second in Stuttgart a year ago, he’ll be aiming to reclaim the WAF title he took in 2006.

It was Pitkämäki, the World champion who defeated his rival in Stuttgart last year, as well as in their last head-to-head, in Brussels last weekend. But the 25-year-old has been considerably less consistent this season, yet still managed to take the bronze in Beijing.

Latvian Ainars Kovals rose to the occasion in Beijing to take a surprise silver, propelled by a career best 86.64m throw. He followed up with a solid runner-up finish to Pitkämäki in Brussels.

Pitkämäki didn’t need to look far this year for stiff competition, as he had plenty at home with Tero Järvenpää. The 23-year-old displayed his potential this season with a string of PBs, topped by an 86.68m throw at the national championships to defeat Pitkämäki, before finishing fourth at the Olympic Games.

Australian Jarrod Bannister was sixth in Beijing, but is still chasing the form that launched his 89.02 Oceania record in February.

WOMEN

Shot Put

After claiming World titles in Osaka and Valencia over the past year, New Zealander Valerie Vili made the next logical leap last month by taking the Olympic title in Beijing. At The Bird’s Nest she won her tenth competition in as many outings this year with an Oceania record toss of 20.56. She’ll undeniably be the woman to beat in Stuttgart, and will be difficult to beat indeed.

Among those chasing Vili will be Cuban veteran Misleidis González, who at 30 reached a PB 19.50 in the Beijing final, finishing fourth to repeat her position from the World indoor championships in March. In her most recent outing, was second in Padova reaching just under 19 metres. 

Nadine Kleinert, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, will lead the home squad. Seventh in Beijing, Kleinert has shown good form all season, from a 19.89 season’s best in late May to a 19.50 victory in Elstal, Germany, 11 days ago.

Discus Throw

Stephanie Brown-Trafton produced one of the biggest surprises in Beijing when she was the first to strike gold for the U.S. team. She showed good early season promise with a career best 66.17m effort in early May before finishing third in the U.S. trials. In Beijing, a toss of just 64.74m was good enough for the win. Her follow-up was a subpar 58.03 at the DecaNation match in Paris last weekend, but she competed well in Zagreb on Tuesday, finishing second with a 62.94 throw. A win in Stuttgart would go a long way to substantiate her Beijing success a little more.

Among her chief rivals by the current standings will be Song Aimin of China. Fourth in Beijing, Song reached a season’s best of 64.31 at home in Chengdu in March, and picked up World Athletics Tour victories in Melbourne and Osaka.

Second in Stuttgart a year ago, Czech Vera Pospisilova-Cechlova produced a solid season, capped by a fifth place showing in Beijing. Her opener at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene produced her finest throw of the season (63.10), but she also took the European Cup 1st League title in Leiria, Portugal.

In a wide open field, others to watch include Romanian Nicoleta Grasu (66.51 this year) and Cuban Yarelis Barrios (66.13), the Olympics silver medallist, the winner in Zagreb on Tuesday with a throw just under 65 metres.

Hammer Throw

Yipsi Moreno couldn’t have asked for better momentum on the eve of her WAF title defences. The Cuban, who took Silver in Beijing last month, extended her own Area record to 76.62 in Zagreb on Tuesday, the third farthest throw of the year.

Her career best comes on the tail end of one of the most consistent seasons of any thrower, in which she lost only twice in 11 competitions, and threw beyond 75m on six occasions. Zagreb was her third straight victory since Beijing, showing that she’s certainly ready for big things in Stuttgart.

Among other Olympians expected in Stuttgart is Frenchwoman Manuela Montebrun, who was fifth in Beijing. The European Cup runner-up in June, she produced a solid streak in domestic meets and most recently finished fourth in Rieti.

Croatian national record holder Ivana Brkljacic had only one major snafu this season, which came in the qualifying round in Beijing, where she failed to advance. She was however consistent in the 72-74m range, topped by a near-NR of 74.89 in Lille, the sixth best throw of the season.

World season leader (77.32) and Olympic champion Oksana Miankova of Belarus withdrew from Zagreb citing illness and so is unlikely to compete even if offered a wild card (She is currently not qualified by points).

Javelin Throw

A year ago, freshly-minted World champion Barbora Spotakova upstaged local favourties Steffi Nerius Christina Obergfoll with a convincing victory in Stuttgart, and again this year the trio will figure prominently in the Javelin throw battle.

This time, Spotakova returns as the reigning Olympic champion after a compelling and hard fought battle which witnessed Obergfoll’s European record extended twice. The Czech needed a European record of 71.42, the year’s furthest throw, to pull out the win. Spotakova has been virtually unstoppable this season, winning all but two of her 13 competitions, and producing four of the five best throws of the year.

Obergföll, who watched her continental record fall in the Bird’s Nest, finished third there, reaching 66.13m. She followed up with a season’s best 69.81 in Elstal, Germany, 11 days ago and has finished ahead of Spotakova twice, winning in Ostrava and finishing second in Lausanne.

Nerius, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, couldn’t match that this year, finishing fifth in Beijing. She certainly remains a threat, posting a career best, at 36, of 68.34 11 days ago in Elstal.

Others to watch include Briton Goldie Sayers (65.75), who was fourth in Beijing, World record holder Osleidys Menéndez of Cuba, and another German, Linda Stahl, who reach 66.06 in Leverkusen in July. But Mariya Abakumova of Russia, the Olympic silver medallist isn’t qualified, so her participation depends upon a wild card.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF