Athletics virtual meet is gradually gear to a slight full steam meet as demonstrated over the weekend; with meet, although with sizable spectators across Finland, Hungary, Norway and Czech Republic.
In Somero in Finland on Saturday (6), Krista Tervo smashed her own national record with a throw of 71.93m. She was under pressure in the early stages, sitting in second place after two rounds, just eight centimetres adrift of Suvi Koskinen’s leading mark of 66.01m. In that same second round, Silja Kosonen added almost a metre to Tervo’s national U20 record, throwing 65.60m.
Tervo, as she had done in the opening round, produced another foul with her third effort, but then sent her hammer out to 68.81m in round four to take the lead. Having found her groove, she unleashed her record-breaking throw in round five. The 22-year-old rounded out her series with 70.84m, the second-best throw of her career
“I’d been talking with my coach about the possibility of throwing 72 metres this season, and now we have done it in my first competition,” said a delighted Tervo, whose previous best was 70.18m. “My main goal for the rest of 2020 is to throw 70 metres more consistently.”
In the men’s competition, Aaron Kangas took the lead in the third round with 74.34m, then set a PB of 75.30m before improving it again with 77.09m in round five. It’s the best throw by a Finnish man for four years.
In Szombathely, the 10th largest city in Hungary, witnessed a scintilating performance from World bronze medallist, Bence Halasz, who threw a world-leading 78.86m to win the men’s hammer contest on Saturday (6). 2017 European U20 bronze medallist Daniel Raba was a few metres adrift, as was the case in their last clash a few weeks ago, but he was rewarded with a PB of 73.85m.
Hungary’s 2013 world U18 champion Reka Gyuratz was a comfortably winner of the women’s competition with 70.20m, her first 70-metre throw of the season.
Then, in a Norway city surrounded by mountains, Bergen; the world finalist Ola Stunes Isene produced impressive performance on Saturday (6), winning the men’s discus with a season’s best of 64.62m. Sven Martin Skagestad, his biggest domestic rival, was second with 61.22m.
European indoor 60m champion Jan Volko was the standout performer in Ostrava on Friday (5). The Slovakian sprinter won the rarely-contested outdoor 60m in 6.69 and made it a sprint double by winning the 150m in 15.33.
