Christina Obergföll qualifies for the final of the women's javelin to ensure all three German competitors go through (© Getty Images)
The overall standard of the women’s Javelin qualification was hardly breathtaking, but one thrower did leave a much bigger impact than the others.
Olympic silver medallist Mariya Abakumova of Russia, one of the few 70 metre throwers in the world, unleashed a shocking first throw of 68.92m to take the world lead this season. Of course Abakumova did throw 70.78m in Beijing, but the 2009 season didn’t actually predict this kind of qualification throw for the Russian. She had an earlier season’s best of 66.89m from June, but did not come close to that in recent competitions.
Surprisingly only four throwers exceeded the automatic qualifying mark of 62.00m and several top throwers who made it to the final in the top 12 were left to think about their modest performance in the qualification competition. German Linda Stahl was the second best athlete in the qualification with a 63.86m season’s best which is also her third best result ever.
27-year-old Slovenian Martina Ratej will be looking for her first top eight finish in the final following a promising 63.42m season’s best result in the qualification, only a mere two centimetres from her national record 63.44m from last season. Czech Olympic champion and World record holder Barbora Spotakova looked to be in no trouble whatsoever qualifying with her first throw of 63.27m.
On the other hand there were plenty of top names who didn’t look convincing. Former World record holder and World champion Osleidys Menéndez (CUB) had to use all of her three throws ending up with a 61.94m result which gave her the fifth place in the qualification. German Steffi Nerius, who has three successive silver medals from World Championships, didn’t look as convincing as she should at this stage with a 61.73m throw for the sixth place.
Countrywoman Christina Obergföll was seventh with 60.74m but looks to be too far behind Abakumova and Spotakova to challenge them for the win. Romanian Maria Negoita’s 59.46m was the 12th best and last result which was enough to qualify for the final. There were no big names who didn’t make it to the final with South African Sunette Viljoen maybe the biggest surprise not to make the final with a 56.83m throw. The 26-year-old won the World University Games earlier this season producing a 65.43m African record in the qualification in Belgrade in that very competition.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
