World champions Johannes Vetter and Paweł Fajdek are among athletes from almost 40 countries expected to feature at the European Throwing Cup in Portugal, which will be live here on runjumpthrow.com and runnerspace.com this weekend, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th March.
The event, organised by European Athletics, will be based in the city of Leiria and includes senior men’s and women’s javelin, discus, hammer and shot put competitions, along with their under-23 equivalents.
Javelin star Vetter, who threw a lifetime best and German national record of 94.44m prior to winning gold at the IAAF World Championship London 2017 last summer has thrown 91.22m so far in 2018.
The 24-year-old could easily rewrite the record books, with the current competition best of 85.85m set by his compatriot Julian Weber twelve months ago in Las Palmas.
Meanwhile, Fajdek of Poland, who has a hat-trick of world titles in the hammer, will be looking to start his season well ahead of defending the European gold he won in Amsterdam two years ago.
Hungary’s Anita Márton comes into the tournament in great form just days after winning the women’s shot put at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. She beat a strong field including Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd and China’s Gong Lijiao, throwing a national record of 19.62m in the last round.
In the discus, there could be a great battle between the reigning Olympic champion Christoph Harting of Germany and 2017 world silver medallist Daniel Ståhl, who managed a personal best throw of 71.29m in Sweden last year.
The under-23 competitions are often a breeding ground for future talent. Discus thrower Sandra Perkovic won the category in 2012, prior to becoming Olympic champion in London six years ago.
From a UK perspective, shot put pair Rachel Wallader and Sophie McKinna will resume their rivalry which provided a thrilling contest at the British Indoor Championships last month. Wallader, who is off to the Commonwealth Games with Team England, secured the title with a final round effort of 17.45m.
Also selected by British Athletics as they gear up for the Gold Coast are hammer duo Chris Bennett and Mark Dry of Scotland. A full list of entries can be found here and further event information is available here. The action on both days starts at 9am UK and local time and can be viewed on our dedicated live stream page.
