Sirmais breaks Thorkildsen’s world junior javelin record
2011-03-20 22:44 by Administrator
Zigismunds Sirmais of Latvia threw 84.47m at the European Cup Winter Throwing meeting to break the world junior record set 10 years ago by world and Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen.
Sirmais, 18, had a previous best of 82.27m set at a low-key competition late last summer. He smashed that PB in the first round of today’s competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, adding 60cm to Thorkildsen’s previous world junior record. Sirmais followed it with two more throws in excess of 81 metres.
It was easily enough to defeat European Championships fourth-placer Oleksandr Pyatnytsya of Ukraine, who threw 81.96m. Britain’s James Campbell finished ninth with 71.54m.
“Last year I came close to the world junior record, so I knew it was coming,” said Sirmais, who finished seventh at last year’s World Juniors after throwing a 77.97m PB in qualifying. “It was still quite a surprise for me.
“The conditions were awful, but I seem to throw all my best results in bad weather,” added Sirmais, who trains alongside 2004 Olympic silver medallist Vadims Vasilevskis. “After this kind of result, I think it’s possible for me to make it to London 2012.”
source: athleticsweekly