Men's Hammer Throw Qualifying

Marks were notably short in the men’s World Championships hammer throw qualifying in the Bird’s Nest in Beijing this morning. Only two throwers achieved the 77.00 (252-7) automatic qualifying standard, 1/30 recorded a seasonal best, and no one recorded a personal best.

Favorite Pawel Fajdek (POL) led all qualifiers with his 78.38 (257-2), and Great Britain’s Nick Miller advanced with 77.42 (254-0).

Tuomas Sappanen’s (Fin) 74.74 (245-2) made him the lone qualifier to advance with a seasonal best.

The 12^th and last qualifier, Slovakia’s Marcel Lomnicky, advanced to tomorrow’s final with a best of 74.51 (244-5), and Conor McCullough (US) just missed qualifying by 20cm in 13^th place.

“I was expecting to have to throw 75 plus - maybe 76 - to get through,” said McCullough. “I’m not sure why the bottom line was a little bit lower. The final’s tomorrow so guys may be holding back a lot.”

Hungary’s Krisztian Pars, who qualified in 9th place with an uncharacteristic 75.37 (247-3), said, “At the beginning of the season, I felt I could throw 83.00 (272-4) this year. But after that I have been struggling with pain in my left hand and then with my back. I could not train very much and now I miss it.”

He added, “I go to the gym now to do some weight lifting.”

The Czech Republic’s Lukas Melich was the major casualty of the day. He said, “As the defending bronze medalist from Moscow, I was expecting to get to the final. But my shape is not ideal this year.” After an injury, “I trained too much and it did not work for me.” His 72.12 (236-7) left him in 20^th place.

The final is Sunday evening, 8/23, at 18:30.