Annu Rani will have her task cut out in the women’s javelin finals at the World Championships on Saturday.
Annu qualified with a throw of 59.60m on her last attempt on Wednesday.
Though season leader Margie Malone of the US is not part of the finals starting list after failing in the qualifying round, the field nevertheless is quite strong.
Annu was overall eighth in qualification, with Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi being the best with a throw of 64.32m, her season's best.Kitaguchi is the 2013 worldU-18 champion.Olympic champion LiuShiying of China was second with an effort of 63.86m. Australia’s Kesley-LeeBarber, who had won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, will also be a strong medal contender. She threw the javelin 61.27m to qualify as the fifth best.
Barber is also the defending world champion.
Annu, who has a personal and season’s best of 63.82m, will surely have an outside chance of surprising the field if she can come up with her best effort in the finals. There’s a possibility of a new global javelin champion emerging on Saturday as it has been an inconsistent year in the event. Of the throwers who made the podium at the Olympic Games in Tokyo a year ago, none featured in the world top-20 in 2022 before the world championships began.
