2008 in Review: Women\’s throws – European Athletics (EAA) – NEWS

Europeans recorded world leading marks in each four of the women's throwing events, but in Beijing the usual success didn't come easy this time. Surprisingly only seven medals came to Europe with three of them golden ones. The best competition was the women's javelin throw where European record was broken twice.

First Mariya Abakumova (RUS) threw 70.78m with Barbora Spotakova (CZE) answering with 71.42m result in the last round. The Czech went on set the world record later with her 72.28m winning throw at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.

Belarus shot putters as usual went to Beijing as the biggest favourites. Natallia Mikhnevich, the reigning European champion, had taken the early world lead with 20.70m at the National Championships in July with 2005 World champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk hitting a 20.98m bomb in late July right before Beijing.

But at the Olympics the Belarussians got off to a slow start with 2007 World champion Valerie Vili (NZL) in good form winning the Olympic gold with a 20.56m result. Mikhnevich was second (20.28m) and Ostapchuk third below 20 metres (19.86m). Other Europeans didn't get too close to the top this time with Anna Omarova (RUS) sixth (19.08m) and Nadine Kleinert (GER) seventh with 19.01m result. It was a bit disappointing with best Europeans so much under their season's bests, even Kleinert had thrown 19.89m earlier in the summer.

The reality in the discus was the same with the shot put. The earlier marks achieved during the summer were far away at the Olympics. 43-year-old Iryna Yatchenko (BLR), bronze medalist at both 2000 and 2004 Olympics, had thrown a world leading 67.89m result in June, but didn't have any other marks over 63.5m to back it up. Another veteran, 37-year-old Nicoleta Grasu (ROM) had thrown a good 66.51m at the European Cup First League in Istanbul in June, but seemed to lose some momentum after that.

Surprisingly in Beijing the best European in the low-standard discus final was 36-year-old Olena Antonova (UKR), who won her first major championships medal at the Olympics, a bronze one. Antonova who was sixth in Osaka last season, had only thrown 61.53m before the Olympics and wasn't considered as a choice for the medals. The Ukrainian had to almost match her season's best already in the qualification where her 61.25m result was enough for 11th to get her barely to the final. But there she was the only European in the top four edging Chinese Song Aimin for third place 62.59m to 62.20m.

26-year-old Belarussian Aksana Menkova reached a 76.86m national record in 2006, but for a while it seemed like she couldn't perform in major championships despite having top results. In 2006 she only managed a 62.85m performance in the European Championships qualification which naturally wasn't even close to the final and then she did not get a result at all in Osaka last year during the qualification.

But the 2008 season changed this all. Menkova started with a good 76.19m already in June and went on to win with 75.97m result at the European Cup Super League in Annecy. She then improved to national record and world leading 77.32m in late June in Minsk, her last competition before the Olympics. Although the qualification proved to be problematic as she only qualified as 11th athlete having thrown 69.77m, this changed in the final. There the Belarussian was on a different level winning with a 76.34m throw in the end. Another Belarussian Daryia Pchelnik was fourth with a 73.65m throw.
 
In the javelin throw the reigning World champion from Osaka, 27-year-old Czech Barbora Spotakova, was in extremely good shape right from the start of the season.

Her second competition of the season in Zaragoza, Spain, on the last day of May suggested that she would surely be fighting for the gold medal in Beijing.

69.15m national record followed by a bunch of impressive wins Spotakova came to the Olympics having lost only one of her 11 competitions.

The Czech hit a leading 67.69m in the qualification and was supposed to handle the final easily but it was nothing like that. 22-year-old Russian Mariya Abakumova had been unnoticed for most of the season with no big results coming from her. She did improve to a 65.71m winning the National Championships in July and 67.25m national record in early August right before leaving for Beijing.

It was still a huge shock that she unleashed a massive 69.32m national record in round one to take the lead. Most people were thinking that Spotakova probably can't answer that but she did. Czech national record fell in round one too with Spotakova's javelin landing at 69.22m, just 10cm short of the Russian.

Abakumova followed her big opening throw with almost identical 69.08m result with Spotakova reaching 67.04m with her second try. At this the rain started and again most people thought this was it, one can't throw javelin in a rain.

And again they were proven wrong. In round four Abakumova did something unthinkable and third woman to go over 70m since the new javelin was introduced in 1999. 70.78m also surpassed Christina Obergföll's European record 70.20m by 58cm. And the competition still wasn't over. Spotakova made his final approach and it ended with a remarkable 71.42m European record and a gold medal for the Czech in the best ever European javelin competition. The season however wasn't over yet for Spotakova who broke the world record at the World Athletics Final with a massive 72.28m throw to cap her season so nicely.

European Athletics stats:

Shot Put

2008 head to head between Europe's best:
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Natallia Mikhnevich BLR 1-1
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Nadine Kleinert GER 2-0
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Yulia Leantsiuk BLR 3-0
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Olga Ivanova RUS 2-0

Career head to head stats between Europe's best:

Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Natallia Mikhnevich BLR 10-6
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Nadine Kleinert GER 23-11
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Yulia Leantsiuk BLR 10-0
Nadzeya Ostapchuk BLR – Olga Ivanova RUS 6-0
Natallia Mikhnevich BLR – Nadine Kleinert GER 9-5
Natallia Mikhnevich BLR – Yulia Leantsiuk BLR 8-1
Natallia Mikhnevich BLR – Olga Ivanova RUS 4-0
Nadine Kleinert GER – Olga Ivanova RUS 4-0

Discus

2008 head to head between Europe's best:

Nataliya Semenova UKR – Nicoleta Grasu ROU 2-1

Career head to head between Europe's best (Since 1999):

Nicoleta Grasu ROU – Iryna Yatchenko BLR 16-6
Natalya Sadova RUS – Iryna Yatchenko BLR 18-9
Natalya Sadova RUS – Nicoleta Grasu ROU 24-10
Nicoleta Grasu ROU – Nataliya Semenova UKR 9-2

Hammer

New entries for the European all-time list:

3rd 77.32 Aksana Menkova BLR
5th 76.82 Martina Hrasnova SVK
9th 76.33 Daryia Pchelnik BLR
15th 74.65 Maryia Smaliachkova BLR
16th 74.52 Iryna Sekachyova UKR
17th 73.83 Alena Matoshka BLR
18th 73.79 Anna Bulgakova RUS

2008 head to head between Europe's best:

Aksana Menkova BLR – Daryia Pchelnik BLR 3-0
Martina Hrasnova SVK – Daryia Pchelnik BLR 1-1
Martina Hrasnova SVK – Ivana Brkljacic CRO 3-0
Daryia Pchelnik BLR – Volha Tsander BLR 2-1

Career head to head between Europe's best:

Martina Hrasnova SVK – Aksana Menkova BLR 3-1
Aksana Menkova BLR – Daryia Pchelnik BLR 12-5
Ivana Brkljacic CRO – Aksana Menkova BLR 4-2
Volha Tsander BLR – Aksana Menkova BLR 7-3
Martina Hrasnova SVK – Daryia Pchelnik BLR 2-2
Ivana Brkljacic CRO – Martina Hrasnova SVK 8-6
Volha Tsander BLR – Daryia Pchelnik BLR 9-4

Javelin

New entries for the European all-time list:

1st 72.28 WR Barbora Spotakova CZE
2nd 70.78 Mariya Abakumova RUS
5th 68.34 Steffi Nerius GER
9th 66.06 Linda Stahl GER
11th 65.75 Goldie Sayers GBR

2008 head to head stats between best Europeans:

Barbora Spotakova CZE – Mariya Abakumova RUS 2-2
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Christina Obergföll GER 4-2
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Steffi Nerius GER 5-1
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Linda Stahl GER 4-0
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Goldie Sayers GBR 4-0
Mariya Abakumova RUS – Christina Obergföll GER 4-0
Mariya Abakumova RUS – Steffi Nerius GER 3-0
Mariya Abakumova RUS – Goldie Sayers GBR 3-0
Christina Obergföll GER – Steffi Nerius GER 9-2
Christina Obergföll GER – Linda Stahl GER 9-0
Christina Obergföll GER – Goldie Sayers GBR 5-2
Steffi Nerius GER – Linda Stahl GER 7-1
Steffi Nerius GER – Goldie Sayers GBR 3-3

Career head to head between Europe's best:

Barbora Spotakova CZE – Mariya Abakumova RUS 6-3
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Christina Obergföll GER 15-9
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Steffi Nerius GER 14-13
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Linda Stahl GER 8-0
Barbora Spotakova CZE – Goldie Sayers GBR 12-3
Mariya Abakumova RUS – Christina Obergföll GER 4-4
Steffi Nerius GER – Mariya Abakumova RUS 6-3
Mariya Abakumova RUS – Goldie Sayers GBR 6-1
Steffi Nerius GER – Christina Obergföll GER 34-22
Christina Obergföll GER – Linda Stahl GER 23-0
Christina Obergföll GER – Goldie Sayers GBR 11-4
Steffi Nerius GER – Linda Stahl GER 24-1
Steffi Nerius GER – Goldie Sayers GBR 15-4

European Athletics (EAA)