In his first competition in almost one month, Germany’s Johannes Vetter surpassed the 90 metre-line for a record sixth successive competition at the Kuortane Games on Saturday (26) afternoon, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting.
Vetter hadn’t competed since his incredible 96.29m throw at the European Athletics Team Championships Super League in Silesia in late May due to an adductor injury but he delivered another performance of the highest calibre in front of a knowledgeable crowd which included the now-retired Tero Pitkamaki.
With his first throw, Vetter’s javelin landed at 88.96m but the in-form German added almost five metres to that mark with his second round throw which pierced the turf at 93.59m to displace the meeting record held by local hero Aki Parviainen at 93.09m since 1999.
Aside from Vetter himself, only his compatriot and reigning Olympic champion Thomas Rohler and world record-holder Jan Zelezny have ever produced throws in excess of Vetter’s winning mark in Kuortane.
Vetter didn’t register another valid throw in the competition after his monster second round effort but the 2017 world champion was largely satisfied with his competitive return to the runway after a four week absence.
"I'm pretty happy and proud of the result. Throwing over 93 is always a great result, especially here in such a traditional competition. It's the home of javelin,” said Vetter, who added that his troublesome adductor didn’t elicit any problems today.
“But I was still struggling a little bit with the run-up and the surface - it was way too soft for me - but over 93 metres and one throw close to 89 metres is good," added Vetter.
Vetter’s winning throw of 93.59m represents his ninth 90 metre-plus throw of the season and the irrepressible German takes his winning streak up to 16 competitions.
Former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad & Tobago threw a season’s best of 89.12m to finish second with India’s former world U20 champion Neeraj Chopra third with 86.79m.
The other highlight of the meeting was the men’s discus in which two throwers surpassed the 70 metre-line, only the fifth time this has happened in the same competition in event history.
Reigning world champion Daniel Stahl improved his world lead to 70.55m in the very last round to defeat Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh who continued his rapid ascent up the ranks.
The reigning European U23 champion, who stands at 2.08m tall, surpassed the 70 metre-line for the first time in his career with 70.35m in the third round to smash his previous European U23 record of 69.52m. Ceh produced another 70 metre-plus throw in the sixth round with 70.22m although his proved insufficient to arrest Stahl's sixth round winning mark.
Having only turned 22 earlier this season, Ceh is still eligible to defend his European U23 title in Tallinn, Estonia next month.
Highlights from a Finnish perspective included Kristiina Makela setting a lifetime best of 14.41m in the triple jump, Wilma Murto clearing 4.61m in the pole vault and Annimari Korte winning the 100m hurdles in a marginally wind-aided 12.82 ahead of Reetta Hurske in 12.88.
Full results here.