Julian Weber was left with a bone in his hand again when, like the Olympic final in Tokyo, the result was a bittersweet fourth place. Coach Boris Obergföll was not in the mood to talk after the final.
– I’m not in that mood now. I have nothing to say.
The head coach of Germany’s javelin throw Boris Obergföll immediately made it clear what he thought when the javelin final was stomped on at Hayward Field. The stony-faced coach did not stay in the stadium corridor to give an interview, but pushed past without stopping or turning his head. The gaze was nailed forward.
During Obergföll’s head coach season, the Germans have firmly restored the level of the sport to 90 meters, but in the last two value races, the team has been left with a bone in the hand. Like a year ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Julian Weber was fourth as the best German.
– In October 2021, I informed the International Association of Athletics Federations that the situation in Tokyo cannot be repeated, but that the coating of the throwing site must be in order. The attitude of the union was positive, but at this end (in Eugene) nobody did anything about it. No one listened, no one was interested, Obergföll said in an interview with Ilta-Sanomi before the men’s javelin qualification, where a top German name got stuck Andreas Hofmann.
Hofmann was sitting next to Obergföll in the stands on Sunday when the spearmen hit a bunch of long shots that exceeded 90 meters three times Anderson Peters under. Never before have three nineties been thrown in a value competition final.
Still the owner of the world record and the longest World Cup result in history of 92.80 – in Edmonton in 2001 Jan Zelezny did not sign Obergföll’s criticism of the throwing platform in an interview with Urheilu.
– Always this same song. There was no problem at the Tokyo launch site. Or how ten men could throw more than 82 meters there? The level was historically wide. Here the start was much more difficult, but the level still turned out to be this hard. The best can throw on any platform.
– I too slipped in my own career, but I didn’t look for a reason other than my technique. I always had special spikes for each platform, said Zelezny, who won three Olympic golds, three world championships and five lesser competition medals.
The Czech legend had reason to be satisfied, because his protege Jakub Vadlejch won the bronze medal. If the Germans, piloted by Obergföll, have been in trouble in the last games, the Czech throwers, led by Zelezny, have improved at the medal ceremony – in Tokyo, when the country received no less than two men’s javelin medals.
In Oregon’s World Cup final, instead of fifth place, an 86-meter result was required, just like in the 2000 Olympic final and in the 1997, 2001 and 2017 World Cup finals. Antti Ruuskanen the 87.12 he threw in the 2015 World Championship finals in Beijing is still the highest-level result, which has left him fifth in the javelin competition. However, it won’t be long.
– The platform was not perfect, I’ll sign it. On this platform, the timing of the throw was emphasized, Zelezny said.
– Today’s wind conditions significantly affected the course of the race. For example, the Pakistani man (threw 86.16 and finished fifth Arshad Nadeem) was helpful even with a slight tailwind, when the others were mainly throwing against, sometimes even hard.
The Finns finished sixth and eighth in the final Lassi Etelätalo being again the best value contest representative. First time for those who cleared the qualification To Oliver Helander Zelezny enjoys success.
– If he stays healthy for a year, he will throw more than 90 meters. Helander is very talented. These World Cups were an important lesson for him. He can challenge Jakub already at the European Championships, Zelezny said, referring to the prestigious championships in Munich in less than a month.