2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's discus throw

The Men's Discus Throw event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 18 and August 19.

As the only man to throw in excess of seventy metres that season, reigning world and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia was the event favourite. Veteran athlete Virgilijus Alekna, the last athlete to beat Kanter in competition, was a strong medal possibility. Olympic silver medallist Piotr Malachowski was another contender, as was German Robert Harting who won silver at the previous world championships. The season had been of a high standard, with a number of athletes throwing over 65 m, including Frank Casañas, Bogdan Pishchalnikov and Zoltán Kővágó.[1]

On the first day of competition, qualification went smoothly as many of the highest ranked athletes qualified for the final on their first throw, with seven of them passing the automatic qualification mark of 64.50 m. Casañas and Estonia's number two Aleksander Tammert were the only high-profile athletes to be eliminated. Home competitor Harting had the best throw of the day (66.81), and Kővágó and Kanter were the next best qualifiers.[2]

In the final, Malachowski and Harting started very well on their first throws, with the former taking the lead with a Polish record-breaking throw, while the latter recorded a season's best. The pre-event favourites Kanter and Alekna were unable to challenge the two, as the Estonian took the bronze with his fourth round throw of 66.88 m and the Lithuanian never bettered his first throw of the day (66.36 m) and finished up in fourth place. Consistently throwing better than the rest of the field, Harting and Malachowski battled for the top spot. The Pole improved his lead with 69.15 m in the fifth round, another national record, but Harting took the gold with his final throw of the competition, recording a personal best of 69.43 m.[3][4]

The victory for the home athlete was marred by his controversial comments regarding an initiative by victims of doping in East Germany. Former East German athletes, who had suffered through the state-sponsored doping program in the 1980s, were distributing glasses outside the stadium to encourage people not to "turn a blind eye" to doping. Harting said that he wished his discus would bounce from the ground and hit wearers in the eyes, but he later retracted and apologise for his statement.[5][6]

Medallists

Gold Robert Harting
 (Germany)
Silver Piotr Malachowski
 (Poland)
Bronze Gerd Kanter
 (Estonia)

Records

World record  Jürgen Schult (GDR) 74.08 Neubrandenburg, East Germany 6 June 1986
Championship record  Virgilijus Alekna (LTU) 70.17 Helsinki, Finland 7 August 2005
World leading  Gerd Kanter (EST) 71.64 Kohila Parish, Estonia 25 June 2009
African record  Frantz Kruger (RSA) 70.32 Salon-de-Provence, France 26 May 2002
Asian record  Ehsan Haddadi (IRI) 69.32 Tallinn, Estonia 3 June 2008
North American record  Ben Plucknett (USA) 71.32 Eugene, United States 4 June 1983
South American record  Jorge Balliengo (ARG) 66.32 Rosario, Argentina 15 April 2006
European record  Jürgen Schult (GDR) 74.08 Neubrandenburg, East Germany 6 June 1986
Oceanian record  Benn Harradine (AUS) 66.37 Salinas, United States 22 May 2008

Qualification standards

A standard B standard
64.50 m 62.50 m

Schedule

Date Time Round
August 18, 200910:05Qualification
August 19, 200920:10Final

Results

Qualification

Qualification: Qualifying Performance 64.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

RankGroupAthleteNationality#1#2#3ResultNotes
1ARobert Harting Germany (GER)66.8166.81Q
2AGerd Kanter Estonia (EST)66.7366.73Q
3BZoltán Kővágó Hungary (HUN)x65.8265.82Q
4BJarred Rome United States (USA)60.9265.5165.51Q
5ACasey Malone United States (USA)65.1365.13Q
6BVirgilijus Alekna Lithuania (LTU)65.0465.04Q
7AMario Pestano Spain (ESP)65.0365.03Q
8BPiotr Małachowski Poland (POL)64.2064.4862.6564.48q
9ABogdan Pishchalnikov Russia (RUS)62.9361.0960.0862.93q
10AOmar Ahmed El Ghazaly Egypt (EGY)62.8462.09x62.84q
11BGerhard Mayer Austria (AUT)62.5359.3362.1962.53q
12BFrantz Kruger Finland (FIN)62.29x60.4562.29q
13AAleksander Tammert Estonia (EST)62.2461.9359.4462.24
14AIan Waltz United States (USA)x60.2762.0462.04
15ABenn Harradine Australia (AUS)60.7361.7460.7961.74
16BFrank Casañas Spain (ESP)xx61.1061.10
17AGaute Myklebust Norway (NOR)x60.80x60.80
18ABertrand Vili France (FRA)60.68xx60.68
19BErik Cadee Netherlands (NED)x60.64x60.64
20BMarkus Münch Germany (GER)60.55x59.1260.55
21BIvan Hryshyn Ukraine (UKR)59.9357.28x59.93
22BMärt Israel Estonia (EST)59.58x-59.58
23AJorge Balliengo Argentina (ARG)56.6955.3259.1959.19
24BAhmed Mohamed Dheeb Qatar (QAT)55.3359.16x59.16
25BNikolay Sedyuk Russia (RUS)x59.0358.6259.03
26AOleksiy Semenov Ukraine (UKR)58.7857.31x58.78
27ADaniel Schärer Switzerland (SUI)58.5058.2357.2258.50
28BGermán Lauro Argentina (ARG)57.88xx57.88
29BErcüment Olgundeniz Turkey (TUR)56.54x57.5257.52
AHaidar Nasir Iraq (IRQ)xxxNM

Final

RankAthleteNationality#1#2#3#4#5#6ResultNotes
Robert Harting Germany (GER)68.2567.0467.80x67.8069.4369.43PB
Piotr Małachowski Poland (POL)68.7768.0567.00x69.1567.3369.15NR
Gerd Kanter Estonia (EST)65.9165.65x66.8866.2465.4566.88
4Virgilijus Alekna Lithuania (LTU)66.3666.3265.6864.5366.24x66.36
5Casey Malone United States (USA)63.6161.5965.6464.8465.9866.0666.06
6Zoltán Kővágó Hungary (HUN)x63.0962.47x65.1761.6965.17
7Bogdan Pishchalnikov Russia (RUS)62.0363.2963.1864.2665.02x65.02
8Gerhard Mayer Austria (AUT)62.1660.4963.17x60.83x63.17
9Omar Ahmed El Ghazaly Egypt (EGY)62.1362.8362.7662.83
10Mario Pestano Spain (ESP)62.76x62.2762.76
11Jarred Rome United States (USA)58.4862.47x62.47
12Frantz Kruger Finland (FIN)x59.77x59.77

Key: PB = Personal best, NR = National record

References

General
Specific
  1. Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-09). Men's Discus Throw - PREVIEW Archived 2009-08-16 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.
  2. Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-18). Event Report - Men's Discus Throw - Qualification Archived 2009-08-28 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.
  3. Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-19). Event Report - Men's Discus Throw - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.
  4. Irwin, Pirate (2009-08-20). Harting leaves it late in discus thriller. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved on 2009-08-22.
  5. Hometown hero gets dramatic win, South African gold medalist faces gender test . Deutsche Welle (2009-08-20). Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.
  6. Chadband, Ian (2009-08-20). World Athletics: Usain Bolt cruises to 200m final in 20.08sec. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2009-08-22.
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