by Larry Eder
Tough day for defenders…..
Matthais De Zordo of Germany dropped a big one in the first round, 86.27m and that held up for the gold medal. De Zordo’s series was 86.27m, 85.51m, pass, pass, then 82.88m and final throw of 81.40m.
Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway had some trouble getting going, throwing three in a row in the 80 meter range. On his fourth throw, Thorkildsen unwound and got out to 84.78m for the silver medal. But that was all she wrote and Andreas could not defend his 2009 title.
Thorkildsen’s series was 80.75m, 80.46m, 80.60m, and then 84.78m, a foul and then 80.28.
Guillermo Martinez of Cuba took the bronze with a throw of 84.30m. He threw that in the first round and then threw 80.12m, 80.09m, 76.99m, pass, then 78.69m.
Fourth place was Vitezlav Vesely of the Czech Republic, who threw 84.11m. In fifth, Fatih Avan of Turkey threw 83.34. In sixth place, Roman Avramenko of the Ukraine threw 82.51m.
