Anita Wlodarczyk in action in the hammer (© AFP / Getty Images)
World and Olympic hammer champion Anita Wlodarczyk produced her best ever start to a season when winning with 79.73m in Doha on Saturday (6).
Competing in a standalone hammer competition at the Qatar Sports Club, and held one day after the IAAF Diamond League meeting, the Pole continued her utter dominance of hammer throwing.
She opened with 76.46m and, after a foul in the second round, sent her hammer flying out to 79.73m in the third round. Another foul followed, but she rounded out her series with throws of 79.06m and 77.32m.
By way of comparison, her season debut throws in 2015 and 2016 were 77.73m and 78.54m respectively. In both seasons she went on to break the world record with throws beyond 80 metres. But already, after just one competition, she is within 27 centimetres of throwing beyond that barrier again this year.
It was also her 31st consecutive victory since June 2014, confirming her status as the most dominant athlete in world athletics at present.
Azerbaijan’s European bronze medallist Hanna Skydan was second with 73.07m.
Pavel Bareisha of Belarus produced the second-best throw of his career to win the men’s competition with 78.04m. Hungary’s 2012 Olympic champion Krisztian Pars was second with 75.51m.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
