Posted: August 29, 2005

Athletics: The Prospect Of A World Record - 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final - Hammer Throw

Monte-Carlo - Yesterday the qualification deadline passed for the 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final in the Hammer Throw, Szombathely, Hungary, which takes place on Saturday 3 September, with the entries decided according to the IAAF World Rankings for the discipline for both the men’s and women’s events.**

Click on the link below to go to the IAAF World Rankings, the Top 50 Event Rankings for both men’s and women’s Hammer which have been updated as of 28 August.

IAAF Rankings

With first prize awards of US $30,000, the runners-up receiving $20,000, and the third placers each getting $12,000, and with prize money going down to $2000 for an 8th place performer, as usual there is a great incentive to compete in the IAAF World Athletics Final, the traditional high prestige end to the season.

Reflecting the importance of the IAAF World Athletics Final, all the qualified athletes have accepted the invitation to compete with the exception of Wenxiu Zhang of China, who will be taking part in the Asian Championships (1 - 4 September) in Incheon, Korea. In this case, the next athlete in the Event Ranking, (9th) Ester Balassini of Italy has been invited, and accepted, as a replacement.

A stunning festival of throwing in Szombathely is expected next weekend, with double World champion Ivan Tikhon of Belarus, who was just one centimetre away from the World record when throwing a national record of 86.73m in Brest on 3 July, remaining in fine form having retained his World title with 83.89 in Helsinki. In a four attempt competition in the Slovak Republic last weekend, three of his throws sailed over 80m.

With $100,000 on offer to any athlete surpassing a World record at the IAAF World Athletic Final, it is not just the 29-year-old Belarussian who could be inspired. In the women’s event, Russia’s Tatyana Lysenko, 21, who threw the current World record of 77.06 on 15 July, and took bronze in Helsinki, has the potential too. However, there is World and Olympic champion Olga Kuzenkova, also of Russia, and the in form Cuban Yipsi Moreno – she threw 74.95 to beat Lysenko in Slovakia at the weekend – to also consider in the World record and title stakes.

MEN
Ranking Position/Family Name/Given Name/Country/Points
1 Tikhon Ivan BLR 1327
2 Devyatovskiy Vadim BLR 1306
3 Karjalainen Olli-Pekka FIN 1272
4 Ziólkowski Szymon POL 1251
5 Pars Krisztián HUN 1244
6 Konovalov Ilya RUS 1228
7 Esser Markus GER 1223
8 Charfreitag Libor SVK 1219

WOMEN
Ranking Position/Family Name/Given Name/Country/Points
1 Kuzenkova Olga RUS 1247
2 Skolimowska Kamila POL 1246
3 Montebrun Manuela FRA 1241
4 Lysenko Tatyana RUS 1239
5 Moreno Yipsi CUB 1236
7 Heidler Betty GER 1179
8 Tsander Volha BLR 1176
9 Balassini Ester ITA 1173

**The main programme of events of the 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final takes place in Monaco on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 September, with the men’s and women’s Hammer Throws, being held in Szombathely, Hungary on Saturday 3 September, due to technical constraints within the Stade Louis II.