Johannes Vetter seldom looked overly satisfied with his exertions at the Golden Spike in Ostrava on Wednesday (19) but the German confirmed his excellent early season form with another sparkling series in the javelin.
Vetter started his series with a bang, extending his world lead by more than two metres with 94.20m, a mark which has only been surpassed with the current specification javelin by the German himself and world record-holder Jan Zelezny who holds the meeting record with 94.64m.
His first round throw was also the seventh longest in history but Vetter looked rueful as he fell agonisingly short of Zelezny’s venerable mark which has stood since May 1996, the same month when the Czech set the world record of 98.48m which looks set to celebrate its 25th year on the books on 25 May.
“It was a great throw,” he said. “But of course the world record would be even better. It was great training for me. I made only small mistakes and managed to hit the javelin very clean.”
In chilly conditions in the Czech city, Vetter’s first round throw remained his best of the competition but the 2017 world champion put together another high calibre series. His second round throw also landed beyond the 90 metre-line at 91.33m and after passing his third attempt, Vetter concluded his series with three more throws over 88 metres: 88.53m, 88.47m, 88.45m.
Vetter’s next competition will be at home in Dessau on Friday (21) evening. Another highlight of that meeting is the expected head-to-head between three-time world high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene and Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh who scaled 2.06m during the indoor season.
British teenagers dazzle in the 800m
Max Burgin and Keely Hodgkinson won a double for Great Britain in the 800m at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Gyor three years ago and the precocious pair are making an impact at senior level despite still officially being in the U20 ranks.
In her first 800m race since winning the European indoor title in Torun, Keely Hodgkinson powered away from the field in the last 250 metres to win in a lifetime best of 1:58.89 ahead of Ethiopia’s world U20 champion Diribe Welteji in 1:59.79. While not the fastest time ever recorded by a European at U20 level, Hodgkinson's winning time surpasses the European U20 record of 1:59.17 set by East Germany's Birte Bruhns in 1988.
In the next race on the programme, Burgin was the only athlete from the 12-strong field to track the pacemaker in the 800m and despite passing through the bell in a fraction over 50 seconds, Burgin’s legs never looked as though they would crumble on the second lap, nor would the chasers bridge what was a significant gap.
One day before his 19th birthday, Burgin crossed the finish-line in a sizzling 1:44.14 - a world leading mark but also a European U20 record to win by more than one second ahead of a loaded field including Tony Van Diepen from the Netherlands (1:45.36) and fellow Brit Jake Wightman (1:45.47).
Full results here.