Report: women’s hammer qualifying – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015

A few quick spins and a release of the hammer; job done for Anita Wlodarczyk in this morning’s qualifying round.

The world record-holder needed just one throw to progress to the final, her 75.01m being the best result of the day and a mark that only one other woman this year has bettered. The Pole is now one step closer to regaining the title she won in 2009 in Berlin.

Alexandra Tavernier was the first to hit an automatic qualifier. The 2012 world junior champion added 34 centimetres to her PB with her first-round throw of 74.39m, just 27 centimetres shy of the French record set 10 years ago by Manuela Montebrun.

China’s Asian record-holder Wang Zheng needed two attempts to get beyond the automatic qualifying distance of 72.50m, but she threw 73.06m in the second round to ease her way into the final.

Compatriot Zhang Wenxiu was the only automatic qualifier from the second group, sending her hammer out to a season’s best of 72.92m to make her ninth consecutive global championships final, a streak that dates back to the 2004 Olympics and includes her bronze medal from the 2008 Olympics in this same stadium.

Two other women in group B threw beyond 72 metres. Moldova’s Zalina Marghieva threw 72.29m and USA’s Amber Campbell threw 72.06m. On a morning with just four automatic qualifiers, their marks were easily enough to advance.

European silver medallist Martina Hrasnova was one of the few surprises of the round. She finished 16th overall, missing a place in the final, despite entering the competition as the third-best thrower in the world this year.

Kathrin Klaas, Sophie Hitchon, Betty Heidler and Rosa Rodriguez all threw beyond 70 metres to make it into the final as non-automatic qualifiers. USA’s Amanda Bingson and Alena Sobaleva of Belarus threw 69.99m and 69.86m respectively to grab the last two spots in the final, but Canadian record-holder Sultana Frizell just missed out by 20 centimetres.

Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF