ZCZC
BSP-05
ATHLETICS-RUS-FRA-GER-OLY-2020-2021
Vetter makes Olympic javelin statement at Dessau
PARIS, May 22, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Former men’s world javelin champion Johannes Vetter threw 93.20m to win the Dessau meeting on home soil on Friday, two months away from the Olympic Games.
Germany’s Vetter, 28, who won world gold in 2017, claimed an 11th best all-time distance two days after throwing 94.20m in Ostrava to stake his claim as a leading contender for Tokyo, with men’s javelin qualifying starting on August 2.
Elsewhere Russia’s three-time women’s world high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene finished seventh in her first international competition since 2019 with a leap of 1.80m.
Lasitskene and three of her fellow Russians benefit from Authorised Neutral Athlete status after their country’s doping scandal with the 29-year-old set to make her Olympic debut in Japan.
Ukraine’s Iryna Herashchenko won the event with a jump of 1.92m.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0916 hrs