By Mitch Phillips
TOKYO (Reuters) - Canada's Olympic champion Camryn Rogers became a double hammer world champion in devastating fashion on Monday as she established herself as the second-longest thrower in history with a second-round effort of 80.51 metres.
Rogers came into the competition as the hot favourite and duly opened proceedings with 78.09 – longer than her leading throw in qualifying. She then stamped her authority all over the field and the event with her second of 80.51.
It was an almost
two-metre improvement on her personal best of 78.88 and put her second on the all-time list behind Poland's world record holder Anita Włodarczyk, who has a best of 82.98 set nine years ago.
Another effort of 78.27 and a finish of 79.11 for fun merely underlined Rogers' dominance.
China took silver through Zhao Jie, with a personal best of 77.60 on her final throw after 18-year-old Zhang Jiale had briefly gone ahead of her with her last throw of 77.10, but had to settle for bronze.
"I don’t know when it’s going to hit me but I think tonight was one of the best moments in my entire life," said 26-year-old Rogers, who finished fifth in the Tokyo Stadium in the 2021 Olympics with no fans present.
"To come back here after four years and to get my second world title. To do it with my family here and my coach and everyone by my side is just the best feeling in the world."
Speaking about her remarkably consistent run of throws in the final, Rogers added: "Everything came together when it mattered the most. This is truly a very hard thing to accomplish. Over the last few years, my coach and I have been trying to figure it out.
"We kind of planned for the long throws but to set that intensity level, to be consistent throughout the competition, that is testament to all the training and work we have done.
"There is a whole team standing beside me, so this is more theirs than mine."
Zhang was delighted with bronze after her under-20 gold last year. "To win the world junior championships and then to compete in the final here is a huge difference," she said.
"I put everything into my last attempt to get one position higher and I was successful, but Jie was incredible on her last throw.
"I'm only 18, but I have a dream to grab the gold at the next world championships in Beijing."
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
