All three Finnish javelin men progress to Olympic final

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Local track & field fans will have something to watch on TV on Saturday afternoon, as the trio of Tero Pitkämäki, Tero Järvenpää, and Teemu Wirkkala all progressed into the final of the men’s javelin early this morning Finnish time.
      The two qualification groups both had to contend with rainy, slippery conditions, in which several competitors - Pitkämäki among them - lost their footing and tumbled over while throwing.
     
Pitkämäki, the reigning World Champion, threw 82.61 metres with his second attempt, and was one of only three athletes to get past the automatic qualification mark of 82.50. Tero Järvenpää was fourth overall with a throw of 82.34. Teemu Wirkkala threw in the first group and his best of 79.79 was enough for 10th place.
      Twelve competitors will take part in the final.
     
Vadims Vasilevskis of Latvia threw 83.51 with his first attempt and could pack up his things immediately.
      He is regarded as one of the favourites for a medal. Russia’s Ilya Korotkov also looked good with 83.33.
      However, another of the ante-post favourites Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway was not at his best.
      His opening throw of 79.85 was nevertheless enough to see him through in 9th place, and he was able to afford the luxury of passing up his third attempt.
     
A couple of big names went out. Russian Sergey Makarov, the bronze medallist in Athens and Sydney, could do no better than 72.47, and finished 26th.
      He, too, was a faller in the slippery conditions.
      Breaux Greer of the United States, who finished third behind Pitkämäki and Thorkildsen at the Osaka World Championships last year, has struggled this season with a shoulder injury.
      He threw his season’s best of 73.68, but it was nowhere close to being enough for a place in the final.
     
The men’s javelin final will be held at 14:00 Finnish time on Saturday.
      Realistically, it probably represents the Finns' best hope of adding to their tally of three medals (1-1-1) from these games.
      The javelin is traditionally an event close to Finnish hearts, not least because of abundant previous successes at Olympic, World Championships, and European Championships level. Finland is the only nation to have ever swept the javelin medals at the Olympics, and has done so twice, in 1920 and 1932.
      It would take a brave person to bet against a javelin gold-medallist being routinely voted Finland's Sports Personality of the Year - given that we do not happen to have the likes of Usain Bolt in these parts.


Links:
  Beijing Olympics: Men´s Javelin Qualification

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