Carter goes the distance

American beats Kiwi Adams for shot put gold

These are not the best of times for those chasing history. Tirunesh Dibaba found that out on the opening day of the athletics programme and late in the night, Valerie Adams too stumbled at the doorstep of what would have been a unique feat in track and field.

Adams, the big shot putter from New Zealand, was attempting to become the first woman to win three individual Olympic titles in athletics, like Dibaba. But a late charge from American Michelle Carter turned the result topsy-turvy and the Kiwi had to return home with a silver.

At the Olympic Stadium, Adams was sitting pretty with a 20.42 effort, her best in close to two years. But Carter had other ideas. The big lady hurled the iron ball to 20.63 metres in the final round, leaving the New Zealander with very little time to respond.
Adams still had one round to go and with the spotlight entirely trained on her, she produced a big effort but almost immediately realised that she had not done enough. The scoreboard read 20.39 and Carter celebrated, with tears welling up in her eyes.

“All I did was give it my best. I wasn’t nervous. At the end of the day, I was able to bring all my energy to the middle and just focus on what I needed to do,” said Carter.
“I have been to three Olympics, so I guess I have learned something.”

Daughter of Michael, the 1984 Olympic silver medallist in men’s shot put, Carter had won the world indoor title this year. But Adams, Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012, was the firm favourite, as she had staged a strong comeback from elbow, shoulder and knee surgeries in the last two years.

Adams seemed to have done enough to justify the favourite’s tag with her second round effort as Carter trailed in second place at 19.87 in round five. 

But the scene changed dramatically two rounds later, with Carter setting a new American record in the process and going one up on her father.

“I told my father, he beat me with the amount of record he had for college, I beat him for high school and now I can say that I beat him professionally because I have the gold and he has the silver,” said Carter.

Adams, though, disappointed, was gracious in defeat. “I am very happy with the silver. When I have come so far from last year, I am going to take it. It is my season’s best and considering I struggled a lot last year and this year, I am happy. It was pretty tight till the last round,” she said.

The fancied runners – Wayde van Niekerk, Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt -- cruised serenely to the second round of the men’s 400M while Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the first round of the women’s 100M, aiming to become the first to win three gold medals in her event. Dafne Schippers and Elaine Thompson, her main rivals, also powered ahead with ease.

Jessica Ennis-Hill headed the charts in heptathlon on the first day with 4057 points followed by Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium with 3985.

Harting triumphs
Germany’s Christoph Harting made sure the discus gold medal stayed in the family with a spectacular last round assault on Saturday.

Christoph’s brother Robert had won the gold in London 2012 but he failed to make the final this time. The younger brother then stepped up to the task, delivering a 68.37M throw in the final round to upstage Poland’s world champion Piotr Malachowski (67.55).

Results: Men: Discus throw: Christoph Harting (Germany) 68.37 metres, 1; Piotr Malachowski (Poland) 67.55, 2; Daniel Jasinski (Germany) 67.05, 3.
Women: Shot put: Michelle Carter (United States) 20.63 metres, 1; Valerie Adams (New Zealand) 20.42, 2; Anita Marton (Hungary) 18.23, 2.