Adrian Annus, after his national Hammer record of 84.19m (© IAAF)
Szombathely, HungaryReigning European Champion and last year’s World Cup winner Adrian Annus set a new national record of 84.19m in the men’s Hammer Throw at the MAL Cup meet on Sunday (10 Aug), at the venue which will host the World Athletics Final for this discipline (men and women) on 7 September 2003.
Annus was the clear favourite going into the meet on his home field at the IAAF Throwing Centre in Szombathely coming off an outstanding series of meets. The 30-year-old finished his last three competitions over 81.90m, an average he improved even further on Sunday night.
The Hungarian giant was last in the throwing order but left no one guessing about his form, and what his goal was for the night. He wanted to break the national record and he went looking for it right from the start; his first round effort of 80.45m was to be his shortest of the competition.
Improving with every spin and every throw, Annus’ implement landed at 81.10m in the second, then at 82.54m in the third round. The crowd was with him every step of the way cheering on the champion with banners and signs indicating they also felt, today could be the big day for Adrian.
82.15m in the fourth round was Annus’ only throw that didn’t improve on the previous release, but it only made himmentally stronger.
”The fifth round was key” recalled Annus. “I threw 83.37meters, just 2 centimeters off my personal best. The thought of being so close only made me want to break the national record even more. I came here today knowing I can do it. That was my goal”.
Then there was the very last throw of the event. Annus stepped in the ring and the stadium went dead silent. The signs and banners were still there reading, “You can do it!” but the crowd was too busy watching every step Annus took towards making history. You could feel it in the air. You could almost grasp the tension, the confidence the expectation of thousands of fans. Annus looked at the sector, then turned his back towards it and faced the net.
At this point something happened that nobody expected. The sprinklers went off in the middle of the field, and the sector was soaked in a matter of seconds! It was a virtual waterfall and everybody thought it was all over. Except for one man.
Annus did not wait for the organizers to fix the problem. He swung the implement around his head, one-two-three-four times, spun through the circle and released the throw that would make him the 7th best hammer thrower of all time - 84.19meters, a new Hungarian Record beating Tibor Gecsek’s mark of 83.68meters from 1998.
Interestingly Gecsek was the head of the organizing committee for the MAL Cup this year, and went on to say; “I cannot think of a better way to end my career. Records are meant to be broken, I am glad to be a part of it”.
The new record holder ran through the sprinklers in the middle of the field overwhelmed by joy and satisfaction. He got what he came for on this Sunday night, and he did it in style.
The result puts Annus in second place behind Japan’s Koji Murofushi whose 84.86m Asian Record in Prague earlier this summer is still the farthest anyone has thrown this year, but the Hungarian is very confident about Paris and is looking forward to adding another medal to his collection.
“I should have thrown this far last year already, but I had some problems towards the end of the season. Hopefully this year I can recapture my form in Paris, and then again in September when the World Athletic Final in Hammer Throw will be staged here in my hometown” said Annus. “I knew I had to throw even though the sprinklers went off. My adrenalin was so high, had I waited for the organizers to turn them off my throw would have been shorter.”
There was another hammer thrower in Szombathely who was more than delighted with her performance on Sunday. Marwa Ahmed Hussein of Egypt has been training at the IAAF Throwing Centre for months and has already set an Africa Record in the western Hungarian town (64.77, 31 July).
Sunday brought a few more changes for the young talent. Hussein improved her own continent record twice, first in the second round to 64.83m, then in the subsequent third round to 65.26m. The new African Record was good enough for second place on the day behind home crowd favorite Katalin Dívós who finished with 65.47m just ahead of Hussein.
The third national record of the day came in the men’s javelin. With a small field of competitors in action, Iranian athlete Mahdi Ravaei took no chances about winning. In the fourth round Ravaei felt his release was one of his bests and did everything possible not to step over the line. When falling to the ground Ravaei injured his left ankle and had to retire from the competition, maybe even end his season with a possible ligament tear. The result however speaks for itself; the Iranian threw 75.04m, a new national record.
Earlier in the MAL Cup, another reigning European Champion and World Cup winner Robert Fazekas found no real challengers in the men’s Discus Throw. The local hero eased his way to a 69.06m victory ahead of compatriots Zoltán Kõvágó and Roland Varga. Fazekas – a friend and training partner of Annus – was not quite satisfied with his result. “None of my throws were good. I felt slow today, but luckily there are still two weeks left until Paris, hopefully I will regain my speed” added the Hungarian.
By an IAAF correspondent
Results:
Men
100m
1. Dwight Thomas JAM 10.35
2. Bobby Williams USA 10.38
3. Dwayne Grant GBR 10.59
200m
1. Bobby Williams USA 20.53
2. Dwayne Grant GBR 20.58
3. Nagmeldin Al-Abubakr SUD 21.01
400m
1. Fawzi Al-Shammary KUW 46.25
2. John Steffensen AUS 46.84
3. Mohammed Akefian IRI 47.32
800m
1. Ismail Ahmed Ismail SUD 1:46.83
2. Adam Abdul Adam QAT 1:47.43
3. Safad Moradi IRI 1:47.64
110m Hurdles
1. Todd Matthews USA 13.58
2. Sultan Tucker LBR 13.79
3. Balazs Kovacs HUN 13.99
5th Rouholla Asgari 14.15 Iranian Nat.Rec
400m Hurdles
1. Stepan Tesarik CZE 49.09
2. Fred Sharpe USA 49.47
3. Matthew Douglas GBR 49.75
Long Jump
1. Tamas Margl HUN 7.76m
2. Darren Ritchie GBR 7.72m
3. Balazs Domotor HUN 7.27m
High Jump
1.Jan Janku CZE 2.20m
2. Laszlo Boros HUN 2.20m
3. Dalton Grant GBR 2.15m
Discus Throw
1. Robert Fazekas HUN 69.09m
2. Zoltan Kovago HUN 66.03m
3. Roland Varga HUN 61.71m
Hammer Throw
1. Adrian Annus HUN 84.19m NR
2. Libor Charfreitag SVK 80.76m
3. Stuart Rendell AUS 78.37m
Javelin Throw
1. Mahdi Ravaei IRI 75.04m NR
2. Robert Laduver HUN 69.14m
Women
100m
1. Eniko Szabo HUN 11.54
2. Geraldine Pillay RSA 11.55
3. Nikolett Listar HUN 12.02
200m
1. Geraldine Pillay RSA 23.11
2. Eniko Szabo HUN 23.38
3. Nikolett Listar HUN 23.79
4th Muna Jabir Adam Sundanese Nat Rec. 24.62
400m
1. Olga Mishchenko UKR 52.35
2. Estie Wittstock RSA 52.63
3. Miriam Hrdlickova CZE 53.53
Hammer Throw
1. Katalin Dívós HUN 65.47m
2. Marwa Ahmed Hussein EGY 65.26m AR
3. Julia Tudja HUN 63.50m
