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|  2004 Throws Review By A. Lennart Julin & Mirko Jalava December 30, 2004 Courtesy of IAAF
MEN - Throws Shot Put The difference that can occur between statistical lists and actual
competitions was very apparent in the Shot Put in 2004. In the world list
the US occupied all the top-4 positions but at the Olympics they were
missing the list leader (Christian Cantwell) and had to be content with
one medal (Adam Nelson, silver), one non-scoring finalist (John Godina,
9th) and one eliminated in qualification (Reese Hoffa, 22nd)! It appeared that the intense national competition - including a series of
prestigious head-to-head competitions - caused the US putters to hit
their peak form in May and June. Out of the top-18 performances of the
year 17 where by Americans, and 13 were set before the end of June!
The most noticed "victim" of this was Cantwell who compiled the top-4
marks overall early on but who then missed the Olympics after finishing
4th in the US Olympic Trials. The top European shot putters thus never reached the absolute levels of
the Americans but on the other hand they timed their peak form much
better to the major international encounters: Yuriy Bilonog had his top
mark (21.16) when winning the Olympic title, and Joachim Olsen had his
two best marks at the World Athletics Final (21.46, won) and the
Olympics (21.07, 3rd)! As for the general standards of the event, the Olympics - held in the
scenic setting of the ancient Olympia - was the third straight global
championships where it took 20+ to reach the final: In Edmonton '01 the
cut-off was 20.13, in Paris '03 it was 20.06 and now in Athens '04 we
had 20.04. Looking at the world lists the number of 21+ seems to have stabilised
around ten, while the number of 20+ has been growing steadily from
2001 onwards: 34 - 38 - 42 - 49! Shot Put - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Joachim OLSEN 77 DEN 1335 Discus Throw Thanks to the TDK Golden League status this year the Discus Throw
season contained many more direct high profile encounters between
the main contenders than a normal year. But that didn't stop Virgilijus
Alekna from once more dominating the event, accumulating two
competitions at 70m, six at 69m and three at 68m. The only real challenge to his supremacy came once more from Robert
Fazekas who didn't compete as extensively but who finished just 16 cm
behind Alekna's 70.97 in Rethymno, 76 cm behind Alekna's 68.42 in
Rome, and then 56cm ahead of Alekna's 69.21 in the final pre-Olympic
encounter - Zurich. When Alekna opened the Olympic final with the new Olympic record
69.89 it appeared that the gold medal was decided, but in the second
round Fazekas hit 70.93 and although Alekna tried hard in the
remaining rounds he never managed to reclaim the lead position.
However, that was not the end of the story as it turned out that Fazekas
failed to supply a doping test according to the rules after the competion
so the Olympic gold still went to Alekna. Despite Alekna's continued dominance, 2004 appeared to signal that a
new group of throwers were rising towards the top to replace the "old
guard". 5-times World champion Lars Riedel had to be content with a
7th place in Athens. The most prominent of the "young" (born 1978/79)
generation were Hungarian Zoltan Kovago (Olympic silver), Esthonian
Gerd Kanter (Olympic bronze), and Spaniard Mario Pestono (missed
Olympic final but won World Athletics Final) who all showed consistency
at 66/67 metres. That the Discus Throw is an event where it usually takes at least until
your mid-twenties before you establish yourself in the international elite,
is illustrated by the fact that there was only one single athlete in the
2004 top-25 - South African Hannes Hopley - who was born in the
1980's. Discus Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Virgilijus ALEKNA 72 LTU 1414 Hammer Throw Traditionally hammer people are the most consistent of all throwers and
Koji Murofushi must be one of the most consistent hammer throwers
ever: This year he had all his seven meets within a little over one metre
(between 81.92 and 83.15!) despite competing on three different
continents during four and a half months. And he won all of them although the Olympic title came with some delay
as Adrian Annus - who on the day in the Athens Olympic Stadium threw
28 centimetres further - was retroactively disqualified due to infringing
doping regulations. So although Murofushi's top mark only gave fourth place on the World
list there was no doubt concerning his status as the No 1 thrower of
2004. Olympic silver medallist Ivan Tikhon had his top-4 meets (all on
home soil) at 82.87-84.46 but then 80.78 was his top mark in
international competition, and he was clearly defeated by Murofushi in
both their encounters. Tikhon also lost the World Athletic Final, where Finn Olli-Pekka
Karjalainen partially compensated for his Olympic failure (just 15th in
the qualification after throwing some seven metres shorter than his PB).
Concerning the qualifying round, the rise in standards during the last
major championships seems to have come to a halt: After 76.61 in
Sydney, 76.72 in Edmonton and 77.78 in Munich (European
Championships), it was 76.56 in Paris and this year 76.69 in Athens. The 24 years old Karjalainen - despite his Athens failure - definitely
belongs to the group of rising stars in the event. But he stands the risk of
soon being overtaken by two throwers that are two years younger:
Hungary's Krisztian Pars and Turkey's Esref Apak who have progressed
almost parallel in recent years. In 2003 they were on the fringes of the
elite with marks at 77/78 metres. This year they were on the 81m-level
and in their first-ever appearance in a world-wide senior championships
they finished 3rd (Apak) and 5th (Pars) at the Olympics! The event continues to be kept in a very firm grip by Europe which had
11 out of the 12 Olympic finalists with the - brilliant - exception to the
rule being the winner Murofushi. Hammer Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Koji MUROFUSHI 74 JPN 1325 Javelin Throw Throwers like Jan Zelezny and Steve Backley seem to have been
around forever - some 15 years is almost "forever" in sports - but 2004
was probably the year when they and their generation finally had to give
way. But their successors still have some serious catching up to do as
no one surpassed 88 metres this year for the first time in 15 years. Also,
Aleksandr Ivanov's world leading mark of 87.73 only would give him
20th place on the All-Time list. But perhaps the most encouraging fact is that four out of the top-8 -
including the gold and silver medallists - at the Olympics were born in
1982, i.e. are just 22 years old. The top-2 - Andreas Thorkildsen and
Vadmis Vasilevskis - also both achieved new personal best marks in
the Olympic final. The other two top throwers born that year are Ivanov
and from the traditional Javelin power Finland, perhaps their greatest
hope for the future Tero Pitkamaki. Although turning 28 this year American Breaux Greer looks like a
thrower with an exciting future if he can manage to avoid the serious
injuries that have beset him for several years. Greer had the best set of
marks (four at 86.83 - 87.68) but a painful knee injury made him
alternate top with mediocre performances. This was very apparent in the
Olympics where a very impressive 87.25 in the qualification round was
followed by a 74.36 in the final finishing 12th and last. The Javelin remains the favourite event of small (population wise)
nations in northern Europe. They contribute more than 50% of the top-
15 of the World list - three throwers from Finland, two from Latvia, two
from Norway and one from Estonia! Although the top end of the world lists were somewhat mediocre
compared to previous year the standards beneath the "surface" were
close to the all-time high with 49 throwers beyond 80 metres. This
compares favourably with the two most recent Olympic years: 51 in 2000
and 47 in 1996. Javelin Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Andreas THORKILDSEN 82 NOR 1294 WOMEN - Throws It was the Hammer Throw that was in the spotlight in the women's
throwing events in 2004. While the Shot Put continued to go further
down in quality, it was the Hammer which continued in the other
direction with standards up for another year again. The Javelin had a
better season too with Osleidys Menendez (CUB), the World record
holder, coming as close as possible to her record in the Olympics,
missing it by 1cm. Her 71.53m winning mark was naturally also her best
since her 2001 World record of 71.54m. Shot Put The women's Shot Put suffered badly during the Olympic season of
2004. Although the world list shows four athletes, two Russians and two
Belarussians, over the 20m limit, the reality was different in the major
championships. World list topping Irina Korzhanenko (RUS) was
stripped off her Olympic gold medal because of a doping violation. Also
another top Russian, Svetlana Krivelyova, who entered the ancient
fields of Olympia with a season's best of 20.69m, only managed 19.49m
in the Olympic final to grab the bronze. Yumileidi Cumba (CUB) took a surprise Olympic gold with an extremely
low performance of 19.59m, Nadine Kleinert (GER) in the silver medal
position was only 4cm behind the Cuban with 19.55m. Nadezhda
Ostapchuk (BLR), the silver medallist from the 2003 World
Championships in Paris, lost her stride in Olympia finishing fourth with
just 19.01m. Her qualification topping 19.69m would have been enough
for the gold medal in the final. However, although Ostapchuk suffered in the Olympics, she finally
found her form shortly after the Olympics winning in Berlin with a
personal best of 20.36m and also with 20.02m in Yokohama, both in
September. These two 20m performances were the only ones of that
rank made outside any shot putter's native country in 2004. 19m limit seems to be harder and harder to achieve. During this Olympic
season there were only nine athletes over this limit, 2003 had 10, there
were 10 in 2002 as well, 13 in 2001 and 14 in 2000. USA heads the list
with 17 athletes in the world top-100, China was second with 15 and
Russia third with 9. Shot Put - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Svetlana KRIVELYOVA 69 RUS 1249 Discus Throw Reigning World champion, 39-year-old Irina Yatchenko (BLR), also a
bronze medallist from the Sydney Olympics in 2000, topped the world
lists before the Olympics with a big personal best of 69.14m which was
thrown in her home country in July. Natalya Sadova (RUS), who has entered many recent major
championships as a favourite was probably relieved at not being the
only favourite this time. In a very even competition the 32-year-old
Russian won with a throw of 67.02m, just edging the Greek Anastasia
Kelesidou to the disappointment of the home crowd (66.68). Yatchenko
took her second successive bronze medal from the Olympics throwing
66.17m in the final. Depth in the event took a turn for the better. There were 22 athletes over
the 63m limit, much improved on the 16 in both 2003 and 2002. USA
had the most athletes in the world top-100 with 18, China had 12 and
Russia, 9. Discus Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Natalya SADOVA 72 RUS 1286 Hammer Throw The women's Hammer Throw has been progressing more and more
quickly lately, but the Olympic year of 2004 was the best. Since the Olympics in Sydney 2000, this event has taken long strides
forward. There were a total of 19 performances over 70m in 2000, in
2001 there were 20 over the 70m limit, then in 2002 there were 28, but
the real start of the fast-forward was in 2003 when there were 71
performances at 70m or better.
This season however, was a totally different story - 115 performances
over 70m which reflects the huge progress going on in this event now. This progress naturally affected the top marks as well, in Athens a
73.16m throw was needed for the medal podium (bronze by Yunaika
Crawford, CUB). As usual, Yipsi Moreno topped the world lists, her best
mark came during the early season, when the 24-year-old won the
Cuban National Games with a Caribbean and Central American record
of 75.18m, and backed that up in the summer as well. She won a
meeting in Padua, Italy, with 75.06m in July. But in the Olympics, it was not Moreno who won, but rather Olga
Kuzenkova (RUS), who it had seemed at a world level was destined to
be second forever because of her previous multiple silver
medal finishes at major championships. The 34-year-old Russian won
the Olympics with an impressive season's best of 75.02m, her best since
a national record of 75.68m in 2000. Moreno was well beaten taking the
silver with a 73.36m effort. Even the depth in this event continued its good progress. There were a
total of 86 athletes over 65m this season compared with 70 last year
(2003), 44 in 2002, 39 in 2001 and 36 in 2000. United States was the
clear number one country in this event with 17 athletes in the world top-
100, China, Germany and Russia all have 7 athletes. Hammer Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Yipsi MORENO 80 CUB 1283 Javelin Throw After a disappointing 2003 season, when she finished only fifth at the
Paris World Championships, Osleidys Menendez came back stronger
than ever. She suffered only two losses during the season, and showed
what her season was going to be about when throwing her javelin
68.23m in Havana way back in March. Although that Havana distance stood as the world lead until the
Olympics, she also recorded several competitions at a better level than
her competitors including two 67m+ ones in July. And she did not
disappoint in the Olympic final either, 71.53m was something no other
athlete in the competition could dream of and Steffi Nerius (GER), who
took the silver medal, finally lost by nearly six metres despite recording a
fine personal best of 65.82m. It was really a one woman show with
Mirela Manjani (GRE) finally overcoming her big injury problems in the
Athens qualification, to take the Olympic bronze in the final round -
ahead of Nikola Brejchova - with a 64.29m season's best, but never
coming close to her usual form. Overall there were 37 athletes over the 60m line, plenty more than 26 in
2003. In 2002 there were 29, 23 in 2001. There were also 37 in the
previous Olympic season of 2000. Germany had the most athletes in the
world top-100 with 11, ahead of eight from China and seven by Russia. Javelin Throw - IAAF WORLD RANKINGS - as of 13 Dec 2004 Position - Name - DOB - Country - Points 1. Osleidys MENENDEZ 79 CUB 1353
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