Beijing Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, all 6 foot, nine of him, has peaked quite well. Throwing personal bests in two of the last three meetings prior to Berlin (his best being a huge 21.89m), the Polish champion threw 21.19 in the first round in Berlin, leading the men's shot put qualifiers.
Tomasz Majewski, Nike Pre Classic, June 2009, photo by Photorun.net.
Tomasz noted, after his throw: " Of course, it is a good feeling to qualify with the first attempt, but this is just a qualification and now, I only want to focus on the final. I feel I am the in the best shape of my life."
Reese Hoffa, U.S.Champs, June 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Reese Hoffa, the defending World Champion, threw 20.23m to make the finals. Reese was pretty introspective: "I am not sure what exactly was missing tody to qualify straight with a better mark. Maybe teh competition was too early for me, or the attempts were following very fast. It could have been also some technical issues, but I know what was the problem, so that at least I can fix it. Definitely, I am in 21m shape or higher."
Christian Cantwell, Nike Pre Classic, June 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
It took Christian Cantwell, the Beijing silver medalist, two throws, but his 20.63m put him over the auto qualifier of 20.30 ( or top twelve distances). Christian told the media:" I am fine. All I know is, I get a chance. Now, Let's see what I can do with my attempts tonight."
Adam Nelson, US champs, June 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Adam Nelson needed one throw to move to tonight's final: his 20.50m silenced any questions about his fitness. Number four in the world, Daniel Taylor, had two fouls and a sub par throw of 19.23m and does not move on.
Watch the throwers from Belarus: Pavel Lyzhyn, the former European Indoor silver medalist, threw 20.72m, and World and Olympic bronze medalist Andrei Mikhnevich hit 20.65m.
The German crowd had something to cheer as Ralf Bartels, the European Champion, moved on with his 20.41m-on his third attempt. Peter Sack, also from Germany, hit 20.20m and moved on.
Qualifying results: http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/racedate=08-15-2009/bydate.html
The final in the Men's shot put is tonight. My picks: Christian Cantwell, Tomasz Majewski, Adam Nelson, Pavel Lyzhyn. Winning throw: 21.95m.
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12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics
Berlin (GER) - Saturday, Aug 15, 2009
Shot Put - M Qualification
Qual. rule: qualification standard 20.30m or at least best 12 qualified.
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Group A
15 August 2009 - 10:05
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 907 Tomasz Majewski POL 21.19 Q .
2 199 Pavel Lyzhyn BLR 20.72 Q .
3 1170 Christian Cantwell USA 20.63 Q .
4 1210 Adam Nelson USA 20.50 Q .
5 1039 Miroslav Vodovnik SLO 20.22 q (SB)
6 563 Peter Sack GER 20.20 q .
7 1018 Pavel Sofin RUS 20.16 q .
8 191 Hamza Alic BIH 20.10 q .
9 762 Sultan Abdulmajeed Alhabashi KSA 20.04 .
10 121 Justin Anlezark AUS 19.94 .
11 782 Maris Urtans LAT 19.89 (SB)
12 247 Dylan Armstrong CAN 19.86 .
13 307 Carlos Véliz CUB 19.62 .
14 290 Nedžad Mulabegovic CRO 19.15 .
15 996 Valeriy Kokoyev RUS 19.13 .
16 340 Yasser Ibrahim Farag EGY 18.69 .
17 387 Borja Vivas ESP 18.38 .
18 103 Adriatik Hoxha ALB 15.89
.
Athlete 1st 2nd 3rd
Tomasz Majewski 21.19
Pavel Lyzhyn X 20.72
Christian Cantwell 20.20 20.63
Adam Nelson 20.50
Miroslav Vodovnik 19.80 20.22 20.05
Peter Sack 20.09 20.20 19.98
Pavel Sofin X X 20.16
Hamza Alic X 20.01 20.10
Sultan Abdulmajeed Alhabashi 19.91 X 20.04
Justin Anlezark 19.94 19.41 19.33
Maris Urtans 19.89 X X
Dylan Armstrong 19.46 19.86 X
Carlos Véliz 18.82 19.62 19.48
Nedžad Mulabegovic 19.15 X X
Valeriy Kokoyev 18.02 19.13 18.90
Yasser Ibrahim Farag 18.40 18.69 18.54
Borja Vivas 17.70 18.38 X
Adriatik Hoxha 15.78 15.89 X
Group B
15 August 2009 - 10:05
Position Bib Athlete Country Mark .
1 200 Andrei Mikhnevich BLR 20.65 Q .
2 524 Ralf Bartels GER 20.41 Q .
3 1188 Reese Hoffa USA 20.23 q .
4 515 Carl Myerscough GBR 20.17 q .
5 397 Taavi Peetre EST 19.91 .
6 930 Marco Fortes POR 19.81 .
7 372 Manuel Martínez ESP 19.80 .
8 310 Antonin Žalský CZE 19.77 .
9 193 Yury Bialou BLR 19.75 .
10 1045 Asmir Kolašinac SRB 19.67 .
11 603 Lajos Kürthy HUN 19.64 .
12 142 Scott Martin AUS 19.52 .
13 1234 Daniel Taylor USA 19.39 .
14 476 Yves Niaré FRA 19.37 .
15 570 David Storl GER 19.19 .
16 1016 Maksim Sidorov RUS 18.92 .
17 242 Georgi Ivanov BUL 18.11 .
. 116 Germán Lauro ARG NM .
Athlete 1st 2nd 3rd
Andrei Mikhnevich 20.65
Ralf Bartels 20.16 X 20.41
Reese Hoffa 20.23 19.90 X
Carl Myerscough 20.17 X 19.79
Taavi Peetre 19.91 19.79 19.69
Marco Fortes 18.70 X 19.81
Manuel Martínez 19.74 19.80 19.73
Antonin Žalský 19.63 19.46 19.77
Yury Bialou 19.38 19.75 19.35
Asmir Kolašinac 19.62 19.67 X
Lajos Kürthy 19.16 19.64 X
Scott Martin 19.16 19.52 19.45
Daniel Taylor X X 19.39
Yves Niaré X X 19.37
David Storl 19.19 X 19.18
Maksim Sidorov 18.92 18.77 X
Georgi Ivanov 18.11 X X
Germán Lauro X X X
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