Reese Hoffa of the US in the men's Shot Put (© Getty Images)
The IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September 2007. We begin 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 World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings. The top 7 athletes with the greatest number of points from their five best results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the WAF. For races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified. The IAAF reserves the right to invite a maximum of 1 wild-card Athlete per event.
It is a condition that athletes have scored points in at least 3 meetings, and in case of a tie the athlete with best seasonal best qualify for the Final. There have also been a number of Area Permit Meetings at which points could be scored for the World Athletics Final.
After the last qualifying meeting, the IAAF Golden League meeting in Berlin (Sunday 16 September), the process began to contact all the athletes concerned 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 final World Athletics Tour Standings 2007
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MEN
Shot Put
With half of the world’s farthest ten throws of the year to his credit, along with a World title outdoors to match his indoor triumph from last year, American Reese Hoffa has been the event’s pre-eminent force in 2007. The only man to reach beyond 22 metres – he’s done it twice – the 29-year-old is no doubt the man to beat in Stuttgart. No stranger to pressure, he was up to the task to fulfil his role as favourite in Osaka when he threw 22.04, second this year only to his PB 22.43 from London.
The other half of the world’s top-ten efforts also belong to one man, Christian Cantwell, who could arrive in Stuttgart as the hungriest. Among the world’s best for several seasons now, the 26-year-old American, the WAF winner in 2003, had an off-day at the U.S. championships and finished fifth, missing a spot for Osaka. With eight throws beyond 21 metres – topped by a 21.96 heave – he’s second in that department only to Hoffa.
Three other Osaka finalists, including bronze medallist Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus and fourth place finisher Rutger Smith of The Netherlands, could also be threats, although with season’s best of 21.27 and 21.1 respectively, their 2007 campaigns pale in comparison to those of the America duo.
Discus Throw
This time last year, Virgilijus Alekna arrived in Stuttgart undefeated in 14 competitions, the world leader and clearly the man to beat. A few things have changed this time around: Alekna will not arrive undefeated, isn’t the world leader, and isn’t the reigning World champion. Those honours belong to Estonian Gerd Kanter, who produced one of the more memorable surprises in Osaka with his 68.84 victory to unseat the defending champion. Kanter also owns the world’s farthest throw this season, his 72.02 from early May, and the season’s only throw beyond 72 metres. After his victory in Osaka, Kanter conceded that Alekna is still the man to beat on his best day, and assuming the Lithuanian is healthy, he’ll be gunning for him again this weekend. Kanter also has top-end consistency on his side this year: he’s thrown beyond 70 metres six times to Alekna’s four.
American Jarred Rome (68.37) and Spanish record holder Mario Pestano (68.26) have thrown far this season, but all things considered, Dutchman Rutger Smith was perhaps the King of the throws in Osaka after a pair of top-four finishes, including a bronze in this event, thus obviously a solid big meet competitor.
German Robert Harting, the surprise silver medallist in Osaka after a 66.68 career best, will be hoping for a wildcard spot in order to take a bow before a home audience.
Hammer Throw
Ten men have thrown beyond 80 metres this season, setting the stage for a fiercely fought battle. But the key players look to be the Osaka podium trio, led by World champion Ivan Tikhon (Tsikhan) of Belarus. The world leader with his 83.63 gold medal-winning toss, Tikhon has a solid record of several key wins this season, and produced three of the summer’s five longest throws.
Primoz Kozmus extended his Slovenian national record to 82.30 this season, and threw nearly as far, 82.29, on his final throw in Osaka, showing that injury woes that slowed him over the past few seasons are now behind him. Slovak Libor Charfreitag reached a season’s best 81.60 to clinch bronze in Osaka, and has been consistent throughout the season. Arriving in Stuttgart with some solid momentum is Olympic champion Koji Murofushi, who after his disappointing sixth place finish on home soil at the World championships, threw a season’s best 82.62 to win in Rieti last weekend, the season’s third farthest throw. The season’s second best throw, 82.94, belongs to Vadim Devyatovski (BLR), who was fourth in Osaka.
Javelin Throw
Yet again this year, the competition in the javelin looks to be a continuation of the Nordic rivalry between Norway’s Olympic champion Andrea Thorkildsen and Finland’s latest World champion, Tero Pitkämäki. The 24-year-old Finn has thrown beyond 90 metres twice this season, first his season’s best of 91.23 at home in Lapinlahti and then 90.33 to take the World title. He’s lost just twice in 15 outings, and has the momentum of two consecutive victories coming into Stuttgart.
Both of the Finn’s losses were at the hands of Thorkildsen, also the reigning European champion, who reached a season’s best 89.51 this season with his victory in Zurich, the follow-up performance to his runner-up finish in Osaka.
But two of the year’s four farthest throws, a season-pacing 91.29 and a 90.71, belong to American Breaux Greer, who took third in Osaka with an 86.21 effort.
Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis, fourth in Osaka, came close to joining the exclusive 91 metre club with his 90.73 national record in Tallinn, and if fit remains a viable threat to tackle the big three.
WOMEN
Shot Put
The women’s Shot Put has been largely dominated by two women this season, and it’s expected that New Zealander Valerie Vili, the World champion, and Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus, the Osaka silver medallist, will continue their battle in Stuttgart.
In Osaka, Vili reached an area record 20.54 to snatch the title from Ostapchuk, who nearly snatched it back with a last round 20.48. Yet despite the Osaka result, the two have been quite evenly matched this season, leaving the outcome up for grabs. Ostapchuk, the 2005 World champion, has three throws beyond 20 metres to her credit this season, Vili two.
Also in the mix are Germany’s Nadine Kleinert, who took the bronze in Osaka, and China’s Li Ling, who reached a career best 19.38 to finish fourth behind the German’s 19.77 season’s best. Petra Lammert, fifth at the World championships, is the season’s third thrower to reach beyond 20 metres after her 20.04 in late May.
Discus Throws
Among the warmest welcomes in Stuttgart will be reserved for Franka Dietzsch. Heading into Osaka, Dietzsch won all but three of her 15 competitions this season, and led the world with a 68.06 effort. She didn’t disappoint at the World Championships, winning by nearly a metre to capture her fourth World title.
Czech Vera Cechlova, who has reached 66.18 this summer and had a near perfect record coming into Osaka, faltered there and didn’t reach the final, thus will be looking for some semblance of closure on an otherwise noteworthy year.
Although they didn’t quite live up to expectations in Osaka, Americans Suzy Powell and Becky Breisch have competed well in 2007, reaching 67.67 and 67.37 respectively, the second and third farthest throws of the year, with some 66 metre-plus efforts to back those up.
Hammer Throw
With less than 40 centimetres separating the gold and bronze medallists in Osaka, the battle here is expected to be intense. German record holder Betty Heidler took the World championships gold - rumoured not to be competing in Stuttgart - but by a scant two centimetres over Cuban Yipsi Moreno, one of only five women who have thrown beyond 76 metres this year. Moreno’s 76.36 was a Central American and Caribbean record, the eighth farthest throw of the season.
Heidler threatened the 76 metre mark with a 75.77 in early May, and has been nearly as consistent as the Cuban this summer. China’s Zhang Wenxiu rose to the occasion in Osaka, reaching 74.39 to take the bronze, a follow-up to her 74.86 Asian record earlier in the month.
Pole Kamila Skolimowska, fourth in Osaka with a 73.75 effort, extended her national record to 76.83 this season, and is a threat to gain some elements of revenge in Stuttgart. Croatia’s Ivana Brkljacic (75.08 NR) has been consistent on the Grand Prix circuit and could be a threat as well, despite her implosion in Osaka.
Javelin Throw
Here too the home team could make a significant showing with a strong 1-2 punch in the form of Christina Obergföll and Steffi Nerrius. The 26-year-old Obergföll has lost just once in 11 competitions this season, extended her own European record to 70.20, and has produced eight of the season’s ten best throws.
Her one loss was a big one however, at the World championships where she took her second global silver medal, finishing behind Czech Barbora Spotakova. The Czech reached a national record 67.07 in Osaka, but in recent days has been nursing a sore elbow, which could have a bearing on her Stuttgart appearance.
Nerius, the reigning European champion and Olympic silver medallist, finished third in Osaka, and trails only Obergföll and Spotakova on the world lists with a season’s best 65.78. Cuban Sonia Bissett, sixth in Osaka with a season’s best 64.65, and Czech No. 2 Nikola Brejchova, fourth at the World Championships with a season’s best 64.29, could be in the mix as well.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
