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<\/a><\/p>\nTuesday morning at the European Athletics Championships featured an embarrassment of riches for throws fans. Two rings full of women shot putters vying for the automatic qualification mark of 17.20m that would advance them to Wednesday\u2019s final. And, running concurrently with the women\u2019s shot, two rounds of men\u2019s discus featuring some of the best throwers in the world, among them 2016 Olympic Champion Chris Harting and 2017 World Champion Andrius Gudzius. The qualification line for the men\u2019s disc was 64.00m, which many of these athletes had thrown in previous competitions. But, as it soon became apparent, 64.00m can seem awfully far if something knocks you off your rhythm. The early hour. The unusually hot conditions (Germany, like much of the rest of Europe, is in the middle of an historic heat wave). An unusually fast or slow throwing surface.<\/p>\n
Some made qualification look easy.<\/p>\n
Christina Schwanitz, much to the delight of the crowd (as she is German and the favorite to snag the gold here) went 18.83m on her first attempt. Thank you, and good day.<\/p>\n Daniel Stahl, the silver medalist at last year\u2019s World Championships in London, \u00a0also launched his first throw well past the qualification line (it turned out to be 67.07m) raised his arms in triumph and headed off to rest for Wednesday\u2019s final.<\/p>\n On his way out, I asked Daniel if he generally takes something off a first round throw in order to avoid fouling.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he replied. \u201cAlways 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n This approach seems to suit the big man\u2019s personality. Stahl is the kind of guy who, if you were a kid, would be your favorite uncle. Large. Easy going. Always smiling. \u00a0Not the kind of person whose confidence would be ruined by a first round foul.<\/p>\n For some, though, it was not so simple.<\/p>\n Poland\u2019s 2015 World Champion Piotr Malachowski would appear to be cut from the same mold as Stahl. \u00a0He comes across as very even-keeled, and has been through many, many qualification rounds at major competitions.<\/p>\n Somehow, though, after warming up at 65.00m, Piotr simply could not find his timing when the throws counted. He walked out on his first attempt (it looked to be about 57.00m), caged his second, and misfired badly on his third, ending up without a mark and without an invitation to the finals.<\/p>\n Afterwards, he seemed perplexed.<\/p>\n \u201cMy shape today was very good,\u201d he said. \u201cMy practice throws were good, then…I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Piotr seemed ready to shake off this experience though. When I asked if he planned to continue throwing through the Tokyo Games, he replied, \u201cOf course. It is my dream. A gold medal!\u201d<\/p>\n While Piotr was suffering his inexplicable meltdown on one end of the stadium, two young shot putters came away from their first ever qualifcation rounds at a senior international competition smiling and utterly delighted to have made the final.<\/p>\n One, British Champion Amelia Strickler, threw a PB of 17.31 on her second attempt.<\/p>\n \u201dI \u2018m so excited!\u201d she said afterward. \u201cIt was amazing being out there because this is such a big venue, and that\u2019s what you want. You want the big stage. Even though the stadium wasn\u2019t quite full, you could still feel the atmosphere. I can\u2019t wait for the final!\u201d<\/p>\n Like Amelia, twenty-year-old Alina Kenzel surpassed the qualifying line on her second attempt.<\/p>\n Her throw of 17.46m was the seventh best among qualifiers.<\/p>\n She told me afterwards that she was \u201cvery\u00a0excited because it was my first big international event. I was very nervous at the first attempt, but the second it was like \u2018okay just do your thing just like training\u2019 and it was the standard for the finals!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter my first throw, everybody was saying \u2018Alina go on!\u2019 I was like okay,okay, keep going, keep going. Then, it was like boom! I \u2018m done, so now I can go to the hotel and have some rest and tomorrow the final.\u201d<\/p>\n Another competitor who seemed just as excited by his success in qualification was the great veteran Gerd Kanter. He threw 64.18m on his first attempt and was positively giddy after.<\/p>\n \u201dI\u2019m old,\u201d he joked. \u201cSo, in this heat I have to do it on the first throw. Out there, we were like chickens in ovens.\u201d<\/p>\n After all the success he\u2019s had, including winning the gold at the Beijing Olympics, Gerd still prepares conscientiously for qualification days.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say the qualification procedure is most difficult at these competitions. If you are in the final, it is already like regular competition, but in qualification, you only get two warm-up throws, it is the early morning, it\u2019s not comfortable. So, in training, we practice making a safety throw.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it a safety throw because you don\u2019t need to go full out. You don\u2019t need 67.00m or 68.00m. The line is 64.00m, so that\u2019s what you need. So, in a safety throw you take less risks. You are not going to go as far back in your backswing, you just make it very simple to avoid errors. One part of training for a championships is we always make two or three throws where the coach says \u2018Okay, you need to do a safety throw.\u2019 So not a maximum effort, but you must throw maybe 63.00m.\u201d<\/p>\n The most surprising moment of this qualification day came when defending Olympic champion Chris Harting failed to advance.<\/p>\n Chris\u00a0showed that he was in good shape two weeks ago by winning the German Championships with a toss of 66.98m, and most observers would have considered him a candidate to challenge Stahl and Gudzius for the title here, in the city where he lives and trains.<\/p>\n But, one chink in Chris\u2019s armor is that his natural release point often sends the discus down the right side of the sector, and depending on the type of the cage, he sometimes has trouble getting off an unimpeded throw.<\/p>\n His coach, Torsten\u00a0L\u00f6nnfors, told me later that the type of cage used for this year\u2019s \u00a0European Championships makes it difficult for Chris to throw in his natural slot because it is shorter than cages normally used in international competitions, with the front support standard jutting out in just the spot where Chris\u2019s throws often travel. Notice the difference between the cage in the photo above at a different competition, and the one below in a photo from yesterday\u2019s qualification round.<\/p>\n I highlighted the front standard to make it easier to see. Torsten told me that they had tried (and apparently succeeded) in practice to get Chris comfortable throwing with this type of cage, and in warmups he was able to throw a nice, clean 65.00m toss. But, Olympic champions are humans, too, and maybe once that first competition throw ricocheted off the cage…maybe all of a sudden throwing in your home town with all eyes on you and the music turned loud each time you entered the ring…maybe it just got to be too much.<\/p>\n After three throws off the cage resulted in three fouls and a humiliating exit from the competition, Chris had to face a very disappointed German media.<\/p>\n Afterwards, he graciously spoke with me for a few moments. Heartbroken, he struggled for words to describe how this had come to pass.<\/p>\n \u201dIt took less than 63 meters to qualify,\u201d he said, shaking his head in amazement. \u201cI can throw that from a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n Just one of those days?<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d he replied. \u201cThat\u2019s a good way to put it. Just one of those days.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tuesday morning at the European Athletics Championships featured an embarrassment of riches for throws fans. Two rings full of women shot putters vying for the automatic qualification mark of 17.20m that would advance them to Wednesday\u2019s final. And, running concurrently with the women\u2019s shot, two rounds of men\u2019s discus featuring some of the best … Continue reading It\u2019s not so simple, this qualification business<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n