by Larry Eder
Christian Cantwell, World Champs, Berlin, August 2009, photo by PhotoRun.net.
The men’s shot is a dynamic event. The quality of male throwers around the world is such that, underestimating anyone in a final is ludicrous. Christian Cantwell took the lead in round one, was pushed to second in round five and took the gold back in round six. That, is a champion!
Christian Cantwell took the lead in his first throw, in 21.60m! Right after him, Tomasz Majewski, also in the first round, threw 21.20m, to set a new Polish National record. Dylan Armstrong of Canada threw 21.12m, for a Canadian National Record.
In round two, Ralf Bartels of Germany, threw 21.44m, a personal best, moving into second. In round three, Andrei Mikhnevich, of Belarus, threw 21.49m to move to second, with Bartels in third.
Nothing changed in round 4. Then, round five. Christian throws 21.14m. Then Andrei Mikhnevich threw 21.68m and took the lead! Then, Dylan Armstrong threw 21.39m, putting him in fourth, setting his second Canadian record of the event!
In round five, with only Andrei Mikhnevich left, Christian Cantwell called something from inside himself, went to the ring, took a deep breath, properly placed his shot under his chin, and started to spin. When he let her rip, the shot went farther than his other throws, farther than Mikhnevich, and finally, hit the padding, giving the gold back to Mr. Cantwell. His throw: 21.83m.
Christian said this after the competition: ” This competition was just unbelievable. When I looked at the board after the second attempts, I told myself, this is going to be very hard. Probably, this was one of the best shot putfinals in the history of world indoors. I do not know why everybody was so strong–it could have been everything–the circle, the crowd, etc. I am not satisfied with my performance on 100 percent. After the second round 21.60m, I was trying too hard and my attempts were not very far. But, finally, I showed something better and turned it to my third gold from world indoors!”
