Most of the post event pressers had interested media, who asked questions on the athletes. In the questions from @runblogrun, we tried to give you, our readers, the word from the actual competitors. So, we asked the medalists to comment on the competiiton, their best performances, and what affected the event.
Pawel Fadjek, gold medalist, Hammer Throw, Poland, photo by PhotoRun.net
Pawel Fajdek and Wojciech Nowiski spoke of the slow ring. Fajdek had thought, as the ring was quite fast during the qualifying (due to the rain), it was dreadfully slow during the finals. Nowiski, who has just thrown past 80 meters, supported Fajdek’s claim. Valeriy Pronkin was a bit subdued, but reminded me of a character out of a Russian nihilist novel. Suffice it to say, Pronkin did not like his performance, but more than anything, the Russian ANA athletes were subdued over the lack of a Russian flag or mention of their country. That tells me that the IAAF stance, while draconian, is the way to show the countries of the world that cheating has to stop.
Final comments on Pawel Fajdek. Pawel is the man of the hammer. He loves his event, he communicates well and he exudes joy when he competes. The guy is also a total party animal and I would have paid beer tab to record the night of revelry. If you do not watch hammer, you are missing it. Exceptionally gifted athletes, student of their events, who take a sixteen pound ball on a chain and put it out 75-85 meters! Amazing speed (watch their feet in the ring).
