Sunette Viljoen

Cape Town - The 11th leg of the Samsung Diamond League in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday will see Sunette Viljoen and five other Olympic finalists’ line up in the women’s javelin throw competition.

Barbora Spotakova (CZE) lost her world No 1 ranking to Viljoen at the sixth leg of the series in New York (June 9) when Viljoen threw a massive 69.35m to improve the SA and Africa record. The Czech thrower reclaimed the world leading spot in the final at the Olympic Games with a season best performance of 69.55m.

Viljoen and Spotakava have already met five times this season with the Czech athlete leading 4-1. Apart from Spotakova, Viljoen will also face German Olympic silver and bronze medallists, Christina Obergfoll and Linda Stahl. Obergfoll’s best performance this season was on June 10 at St Wendel in Germany. She won the event with a throw of 67.04m. Stahl achieved her best at the Olympic Games on 9 August when one of her attempts measured 64.91m, moving Viljoen out of the bronze medal position.

Viljoen has met with Obergfoll and Stahl on two occasions this season with the Germans only managing to beat her at the Olympic Games. Other Olympic finalists in the line-up include former Olympic silver medallist Mariya Abakumova (RUS) and Palmeika Madara (LAT).

The Samsung Diamond League in Lausanne will be held on August 23 from 20:00-22:00.

source:sport24.co.za