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The big news of back to back world records by Jamaican Usain Bolt in
men’s 100m and 200m had banner headlines. But the only other world
record established during the recently concluded World Championships in
Athletics in Berlin did not get the attraction it deserved.
Apart from Bolt’s lightning feats in the sprints, the only other
World record at the World Championship in Germany was established by
Anita Wlodarczyk. After round two of the women’s hammer throw final,
Wlodarczyk was restricted to sitting around, watching the other
competitors and chewing bubble gum.
 But she had already done enough.The 24-year-old Polish lass had
shattered a new world record with her second throw, when the hammer came
down at 77.96m. Anita Wlodarczyk had improved the mark of Russia’s
Tatyana Lysenko – 77.80m in 2006 – by 16 centimetres. Besides her
winner’s prize money of $60,000 Wlodarczyk received an extra $100,000
World record bonus.
“This is the happiest day of my life – I have the gold medal and the
world record as well,” Wlodarczyk said. Interestingly, Wlodarczyk had
entered the World Championships without a coach. Just three weeks before
Berlin – not the best of timing it seems - she had parted from her coach
Zbigniew Cybulski.
“I did well at a couple of meetings without him so there was no
reason why I should not do well here without a coach. I told myself and
determined to do my brilliant best,” she said.
She was so overjoyed after her second round throw that she jumped up
and down again and again on the track – until her celebration came to an
abrupt end with a twisted ankle.
Instead of throwing she had to receive treatment by a doctor. The
first diagnosis was that she had not hurt her ankle too seriously. And
after cooling the foot with ice and then getting a bandage she indeed
even went back into the ring for her final throw. But she only threw
without rotating and then made it a fault. The world title was her’s
anyway.
“She explained that she simply had to celebrate because she was so
happy by having thrown a world record,” said Rafal Bala, the press
officer of the Polish Athletics Federation, who translated for
Wlodarczyk at the post-race press conference. Wlodarczyk comes from
Rawicz, in the western part of Poland, and not too far from the German
border and Berlin. So a lot of fans, including her family, had come to
the stadium to watch her throw and win her first major gold medal.
“Maybe they were a bit upset that I could not throw any more after
the injury,” said Wlodarczyk, who also spent her down time watching the
4x100m relay and especially Usain Bolt, who was running the bend where
she was sitting.
After placing sixth last season at the Olympics in Beijing and
improving to beyond 70 metres for the first time, Wlodarczyk developed
significantly further in 2009. At the recent meeting in Cottbus
(Germany) she had thrown a personal best of 77.20m, improving the Polish
record the late Kamila Skolimowska (76.83m).
- IAAF
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