Slovenia's Ratej provides big surprise at European Cup Winter Throwing

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Ratej followed the conventional throwing philosophy of trying to get a big effort out in the first round and launched the spear out to 65.96m, more than two-and-a-half metres further than her previous national record of 63.44m set two years ago.

The distance is the second best performance in the world this year and topped only by Russia's Mariya Abakumova, who threw 68.31m last month.

Ratej followed up her record effort with two other good throws of 62.06m and then 61.52m before fouling her fourth throw.

Realising that she was now dealing with the law of diminishing returns, she passed her final two attempts.

Her performance inevitably propels her into the position of now being considered as a medal contender for the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona this summer.

Her best previous major championship finish was making the 2009 World Championships final and finishing 11th.

Abakumova, the pre-Cup favourite as the 2009 World Championships bronze medallist and 2008 Olympic Games silver medallist, came close with a throw of 65.21m, and had two other throws over 63 metres, but eventually had to settle for second place, a result she probably hadn't anticipated before the competition.

Germany's Linda Stahl, sixth at last year's World Championships, was also over 60 metres but finished a distant third with 60.56m.

Like Ratej, Germany's Markus Münch will have fond memories of this year's Cup as he produced a personal best of 65.37m to take the victory in the men's Discus.

His big effort came in the third round but he also had two other throws over 64 metres, which were further than the best of the rest.

This meeting clearly brings out something special in Münch because 12 months ago he set his previous best of 64.90m to win the Cup B competition on that occasion.

Spanish record holder Mario Pestano, a 2009 World Championships finalist, was second with 63.78m.

Germany's Markus Münch produced a personal best of 65.37m to take the victory in the men's Discus.

Belarus shot putter Nadezya Ostapchuk also produced the second best outdoor mark in the world this year when she won with 20.16m, a distance she reached twice.

However, the slight leg injury sustained at the World Indoor Championships last weekend, where she won the gold medal, kept her distance well below her winning mark in Doha and she also threw 21.70m indoors last month, the best performance in the world under any conditions for 22 years.

All six of Ostapchuk's throws would have won the Shot Put competition. Her compatriot Natalia Mikhnevich, who was third in Doha, finished second this time with 19.11m.

Romania's Anca Heltne, now 32, produced an outdoor lifetime best of 19.11m for third place although she has thrown 19.90m indoors this winter.

Italy's 2000 Olympic Games men's Hammer silver medallist Nicola Vizzoni, who has already 78.22m this winter, carried on his good start to the year by winning with 76.63m.

Vizzoni produced his best throw in the second round and was never headed although he could never relax as Belarus' Yuriy Shayunou, who won the gold medal at both the 2007 and 2009 European Athletics Under 23 Championships, twice went over 76 metres.

Shayunou's best of 76.30m came in the second round but Vizzoni must have briefly had his heart in his mouth as the Belarussian's final attempt looked good as it flew across the field, only for it to land at 76.26m.

Russia's Aleksey Zagornyi, the bronze medallist at last summer's World Championships, confirmed his reputation for being an erratic performer with four fouls before finally throwing 75.58m, which sufficed for third place.

Several other big names had a day to forget in the men's Hammer as well. Finland's Olli-Pekka Karjalainen and Turkey's Esref Apak, both former world junior champions who have also won medals at major championships as seniors, could only throw 74.22m and 73.86m respectively for fifth and sixth place.

Croatia's 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships women's Discus gold medallist Sandra Perkovic smashed her national record with 66.85m earlier this month and although she could not reach that sort of distance in Arles, her winning throw of 61.93m meant that she ended up with a winning margin of more than six metres in the Under 23 competition.

Croatia's Sandra Perkovic won the women's Under 23 Discus title with ease.

However, Perkovic still had a slightly frustrating day by her own high standards.

After producing 56.33m in the second round and then 59.13m in the third, efforts which themselves would have won the contest, she had two fouls before finally finding her rhythm and produced her best distance with the last throw of the competition.

Portugal's Irina Rodrigues, who is 19 but still a junior, threw 55.29m in the first round to briefly lead the competition and the distance saw her take second place.

Russia's Konstantin Lyadusov was as convincing a winner of the men's Under 23 Shot Put as Perkovic had been, going three times over 18 metres and getting a personal best of 18.88m in the fourth round to end as the winner by more than a metre.

Siarhei Bakhar was one of the few Belarus throwers to perform below par in Arles and, after having produced a personal best of 19.21m indoors last month, but he could only reach 17.65m and had to settle for second place.

In the men's Under 23 Hammer, Spain's 19-year-old Javier Cienfuegos got a modicum of revenge for having fallen short and finishing third at last summer's European Athletics Junior Championships, by winning with 71.60m.   

Cienfuegos, who set a world junior record last year, opened with 71.16m and then produced his best throw in the following round.

Ukraine's Andriy Martynyuk, the surprise gold medallist in the Serbian city of Novi Sad ahead of Cienfuegos, finished second this time with 70.56m.

However, there was a Ukrainian victory in the women's Under 23 Javelin. Vira Rebryk, the 2009 European Athletics Under 23 Championships silver medallist who has already thrown 62.40m this winter, won with 59.55m.

Serbia's Tatjana Jelaca, the European junior champion on home soil last summer, was expected to challenge Rebryk more closely but never really got close to her best and was second with 56.26m.

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