Kenya’s former world javelin champion and Olympic silver medallist, Julius Yego, expressed renewed optimism for his career after securing automatic qualification for the javelin final at the Stade de France. The 2015 World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist, who has faced challenges with his form, delivered an impressive performance in the qualifying rounds on Tuesday morning.
Joking about potentially postponing his retirement, Yego showcased his prowess with a throw of 85.97 metres, surpassing the automatic qualification standard set at 84 metres. His first two attempts landed at 78.84m and 80.76m, but his third throw secured him a place in Thursday night’s final. Yego’s qualifying throw was the sixth-best of the round, earning him a direct ticket to compete at 8.25pm local time (9.25pm Kenyan time).
In the final, Yego will face a formidable lineup of 11 other competitors, including:
- Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic’s European champion) with a throw of 85.63m
- Anderson Peters (Grenada’s two-time world champion) with a throw of 88.63m
- Keshorn Walcott (Trinidad’s 2012 Olympic champion) with a qualifying throw of 83.02m
Leading the qualifiers is India’s reigning Olympic and World champion, Neeraj Chopra, with the best throw of 89.34m, followed by Peters’ 88.63m and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadem with 86.59m.
Yego, who is also a policeman, expressed relief and joy at his qualification: “Let’s hope on Thursday I will have a better throw. I had a good feeling in the warm-up before we got to the stadium and I knew that I would have a good throw. I really needed that… I feel now the body is ready to throw the javelin again. I just need to take it easy, get the technique right and it will be even bigger.”
Yego’s qualification has lifted a significant burden off his shoulders, and he is now focused on delivering an even better performance in the final.
Biko Steve