Nadeeka Lakmali – only second Lankan to figure in final of World Championship

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Russia

MOSCOW, Aug. 17 - Javelin thrower Nadeeka Lakmali will become only the second Sri Lankan athlete to feature in a final after Susanthika Jayasinghe when she competes in women’s javelin throw final of the 14th IAAF World Championships at Luzhniki Stadium here on Sunday evening.

The 31-year-old Asian Championship medallist created history when she finished 12th among 27 competitors and qualified for the final to be worked off at 5.30 pm Sri

Lanka time on Sunday as the first event of the final day’s schedule of the 206-nation championship in the Russian capital.

Lakmali who cleared 60.39m at yesterday’s qualifying round to enter the last 12 from Group ‘B’ is determined to better her own Sri Lanka record of 60.64m established last month. “I am glad that I made it to the final and that alone is a great achievement for me. My aim is to better the Sri Lanka record and that would take me to a higher elevation in the final,” Lakmali said on the eve of her decisive final.

But it will be a tall order for Lakmali to make it to the victory podium to emulate Jayasinghe, the only Lankan who has won a medal in the 30-year-old history of the World Championship winning a silver in Athens 1997

and a bronze in Osaka 2007 in her pet event of women’s 200m. Lakmali has already advanced one step by becoming only the second Sri Lankan to qualify for a final since the inauguration of the IAAF World Championship way back in 1983.

“I know it is going to be a highly competitive final. Everybody wants to come out with their best and I will also work towards that goal.

I am confident that I could make it and go for the Sri Lanka record, so that I will be in a better position,” Lakmali said after her final workout at the nearby training venue.

Out of the 12 finalists in the women’s javelin throw, Lakmali has registered the lowest distance in the qualifying round.

Heading the list after last morning’s qualifiers is home favourite and reigning World champion Maria Abakumova who cleared 69.09m way ahead of the rest.

Abakumova gets the best chance to strike gold and make the hosts proud in the absence of Czech Republic’s London 2012 Olympic Games champion and World record-holder Barbora Spotakova who has taken a break after attaining motherhood.

Despite finishing seventh in the qualifiers, Germany’s Christina Obergfoll could well be among the medal winners here. The 31-year-old Obergfoll has been in outstanding form this season, winning seven of her eight competitions.

Australian Kimberly Mickle who finished overall second in the qualifiers with 65.73m and third-placed South African Sunette Viljoen (64.51) could well pose a big threat to Russian Abakumova. In addition to the anticipated two main protagonists, the only other woman going to Moscow to have thrown over 65 metres this season is Germany’s Linda Stahl.

The Lankan javelin thrower, who made a clean sweep in the 2013 Asian Grand Prix series with three successive gold medals in her pet event, will be the ninth in the order to start their first attempts when the final starts at 4 p.m. Russian time in the first of the six finals to be worked off on the final day on Sunday.

The other finals scheduled for the final day of the Moscow 2013 World Championship are men’s triple jump, men’s 1,500m, women’s 800m, women’s 4 x 100m relay and men’s 4 x 100m relay in which the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt aims to win another gold medal to his rich collection.

The battle for the gold medal of men’s triple jump will be between France and the USA which jointly occupied the first four slots after the qualifiers. Explosive French jumper Teddy Tamgho (17.41m) and his team mate Yoann Rapinier (17.39) had the best performances in men’s triple jump qualifiers followed by two US competitors

Christian Taylor, who jumped 17.96m to take the gold medal at the World Championships in Daegu 2013, takes the third spot in the top qualifiers list with 17.36, ahead of compatriot Will Claye (17.09m).