DEANNA PRICE’S steel hammer turned to gold as she won the first-ever WC throws title by a US woman. So dominant was she that both her first- (252-2/76.87) and third-round throws (254-5/77.54) were long enough to win. Only Joanna Fiodorow’s well-timed PR opener of 250-6 (76.35) was within 5ft (1.5m) of Price’s best, and gold and bronze were separated by a substantial 9-2 (2.78m). Gold and silver would prove to have been determined in the first round. Price sustained a laser-like focus throughout the competition. “You have to be on defense,” she said. “You have to keep going.”
Said husband/coach, JC Lambert, “When I was a competitor I was of the mindset that even if I was in the lead I wasn’t.” Between rounds 5 and 6 he told her, “Be ready. Get your mind right and let’s go because it’s the World Championships and someone could jump you.” Price did not assume anything until Fiodorow’s last-round foul. With the title in hand, Price closed at 248-3 (75.68)—which would have been good enough for bronze—and the tearful celebration was on.
Said Fiodorow, “This was the best timing to improve the personal record. I managed to improve, got silver, my first world medal, I cannot ask for more. I was trying to beat DeAnna until the very end but I knew she had a better personal best and that she was very strong. So it is time to celebrate.”
Much drama played out in the battle for bronze between veterans Zheng Wang (China) and Zalina Petrivskaya (Moldova). Petrivskaya’s first three throws were longer than Wang’s opener, while Wang’s rounds 2 and 3 fouls left her screaming in frustration—and in 4th. “In China we have excellent coaches and wonderful technique,” said Wang. “We might not be as strong as Europeans, but we have a great technique.” She came through in the penultimate round with a throw on which she attempted less and gained more: her second WC bronze, with a 245-3 (74.76), just enough to edge Petrivskaya by 1-5 (0.43). It was the only significant change of position after the first round.
A surprise was that former AR holder Gwen Berry could muster only 3 fouls, so the ’17 USATF champ, a premeet medal favorite, was an unexpected absentee from the closing rounds. In qualifying, Brooke Andersen, who rose to No. 3 all-time US and No. 14 world this season, was hampered by late-season injuries and was a surprising absentee from the final as well.
Price’s gold made this an epic day for U.S. hammer throwing. Since the event was added to the WC calendar in ’99 and the Olympic calendar the next year, no American woman had ever medaled. Price’s championship is emblematic of the ongoing U.S. rise to becoming one of the top women’s hammer countries in the world. A striking statistic is that the USATF final was deeper than here. In 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th, each mark in Des Moines was farther than Doha.
Said Price, “It feels absolutely amazing, having the chance to represent my country, to bring back that gold medal home and to my family. Looking at her fellow medalists at the event’s press conference, she stated emphatically, “It’s never me, it’s we. We are all in this together. We are world champions. This is not country versus country. We are all trying to be the best that we can be and I just want to be a great athlete and a great person. I can’t be more thankful for this chance and opportunity to be world champion this year.”
WC WOMEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
FINAL
(September 28; temperature not listed, humidity 74%)
1. DeAnna Price (US) 254-5 (77.54) (x, 5 A)
(252-2, f, 254-5, 244-7, 242-0, 248-3) (76.87, f, 77.54, 74.56, 73.77, 75.68);
2. Joanna Fiodorow (Pol) 250-6 (76.35) PR
(250-6, 245-3, 238-9, 245-0, f, f) (76.35, 74.77, 72.78, 74.69, f, f);
3. Zheng Wang (Chn) 245-3 (74.76) (239-4, f, f, 241-11, 245-3, f) (72.94, f, f, 73.75, 74.76, f);
4. Zalina Petrivskaya (Mol) 243-10 (74.33)
(241-10, 241-6, 243-10, 231-3, 243-8, 239-4) (73.73, 73.60, 74.33, 70.49, 74.27, 72.94);
5. Iryna Klymets (Ukr) 241-4 (73.56) PR
(240-0, 241-4, f, 230-6, 238-2, 236-0) (73.17, 73.56, f, 70.26, 72.59, 71.95);
6. Alexandra Tavernier (Fra) 240-7 (73.33)
(234-7, 231-3, 240-6, 237-0, 240-7, f) (71.50, 70.48, 73.31, 72.24, 73.33, f);
7. Hanna Skydan (Aze) 238-11 (72.83)
(231-11, 236-2, 238-10, 238-11, 234-4, 232-11) (70.69, 71.99, 72.80, 72.83, 71.44, 70.99);
8. Na Luo (Chn) 236-4 (72.04) (234-0, 236-4, 232-4, 231-0, 233-0, f) (71.33, 72.04, 70.83, 70.41, 71.03, f);
9. Martina Hrašnová (Svk) 233-10 (71.28);
10. Hanna Malyshik (Blr) 233-9 (71.24);
11. Alena Sobaleva (Blr) 231-1 (70.45);
… 3f—Gwen Berry (US).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 6–7, 10–11)
| first 3 rounds | |||
| * = progression of the leading mark | |||
| ¶ = athlete’s best of the day | |||
| Petrivskaya | 73.73* | 73.60 | 74.33¶ |
| Price | 76.87* | f | 77.54¶ |
| Fiodorow | 76.35¶ | 74.77 | 72.78 |
| Luo | 71.33 | 72.04¶ | 70.83 |
| Hrašnová | 66.09 | 71.28¶ | f |
| Wang | 72.94 | f | f |
| Malyshik | 71.24¶ | 66.52 | 70.12 |
| Berry | f | f | f |
| Skydan | 70.69 | 71.99 | 72.80 |
| Sobaleva | 70.45¶ | f | 68.65 |
| Tavernier | 71.50 | 70.48 | 73.31 |
| Klymets | 73.17 | 73.56¶ | f |
| rounds 4 & 5 | |||
| Luo | 70.41 | 71.03 | |
| Skydan | 72.83¶ | 71.44 | |
| Wang | 73.75 | 74.76¶ | |
| Tavernier | 72.24 | 73.33¶ | |
| Klymets | 70.26 | 72.59 | |
| Petrivskaya | 70.49 | 74.27 | |
| Fiodorow | 74.69 | f | |
| Price | 74.56 | 73.77 | |
| last round | |||
| Luo | f | ||
| Skydan | 70.99 | ||
| Tavernier | f | ||
| Klymets | 71.95 | ||
| Petrivskaya | 72.94 | ||
| Wang | f | ||
| Fiodorow | f | ||
| Price | 75.68 | ||
QUALIFYING
(September 27; auto-qualifier 236-3/72.00)
Qualifiers: Price 242-0 (73.77), Petrivskaya 240-10 (73.40), Fiodorow 240-9 (73.39), Skydan 240-7 (73.32), Klymets 239-3 (72.93) PR, Tavernier 239-2 (72.91), Wang 238-4 (72.65), Malyshik 238-2 (72.59), Hrašnová 236-3 (72.01), Berry 235-4 (71.72), Sobaleva 234-8 (71.52), Luo 234-1 (71.35);
Non-qualifiers: Malwina Kopron (Pol) 231-2 (70.46) (farthest non-Q ever), Julia Ratcliffe (NZ) 231-1 (70.45), Yelizaveta Tsareva (Rus) 230-9 (70.35), Anastasiya Kalamoyets (Blr) 228-7 (69.67), Stamatía Scarvélis (Gre) 228-6 (69.65), Bianca Ghelber (Rom) 225-2 (68.65), Sofiya Palkina (Rus) 224-10 (68.53), Brooke Andersen (US) 224-7 (68.46), Krista Tervo (Fin) 223-11 (68.25), Laura Igaune (Lat) 222-4 (67.77), Réka Gyurátz (Hun) 221-2 (67.41), Alyona Shamotina (Ukr) 220-9 (67.30), Tingting Liu (Chn) 220-2 (67.11), Sara Fantini (Ita) 218-5 (66.58), Barbara Špiler (Slo) 215-9 (65.76), Beatrice Nedberge Llano (Nor) 215-0 (65.55), Kateřina Šafránková (CzR) 214-9 (65.46), Iryna Novozhylova (Ukr) 214-3 (65.31).
(best-ever Q-round-mark-for-place: =7, 8, 10–12)
