 Moreno throws down the gauntlet
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-20 08:31  Cuban Yipsi Moreno leads a field of strong contenders in the women's hammer throw final today with a solid 73.92m effort in the preliminaries. But this field event is always hard to read because the top contenders rarely compete against each other in the lead-up to the World Championships or Olympics. At least six women are capable of throwing 75m and last year's world champion, German Betty Heidler, will be in the medal hunt. Moreno, the Athens 2004 Olympic Games silver medalist, hopes she can beat her personal best of 76.36m and add to multiple world championship medals. She won gold in the 2001 and 2003 world championships and finished second in 2005 and 2007. China's Zhang Wenxiu threw the second furthest on Monday, marking 73.36m, and the home crowd will be an advantage. Martina Hrasnova of Slovakia followed with 72.87m to take third place going into the final. Heidler struck 71.51m to advance. Darya Pchelnik of Belarus sits third in the world rankings, with a personal best throw of 76.33m. She passed through the prelims with 71.30m. But watch out for her compatriot Aksana Miankova, who leads the 2008 world rankings with her national record of 77.32m, the third best throw of all time. She threw 69.77m. Agencies (China Daily 08/20/2008 page20) |
