Tokyo Olympics: Julius Yego Out of the Men’s Javelin

Kenya’s medal hope in men’s Javelin dimmed after Julius Yego failed to make the final.

Tokyo Olympics: Julius Yego Out of the Men’s Javelin

Julius Yego, a former world javelin champion, and Rio Olympics silver medalist failed to register a place at the final after his first two attempts, setting himself for a nerve-wracking third attempt in his bid to hit the automatic mark of 83.50metres.

The qualifying round also claimed the scalps of former Olympic champion Kershon Walcott from Trinidad and Tobago.

Germany’s Julian Weber was the first to qualify in the group, with a clean 84.41m in his first attempt, with Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem throwing 85.16m to also make the final in his second attempt.

The Pakistani had seen his first attempt fall short of the automatic qualifying mark after throwing 78.50m.

Jakub Vadlejch saved his best for the last, holding his nerve to hit 84.93m to make the final.

The javelin competitors had been drawn in two qualification groups and Yego’s Group ‘B’ started throwing off from 10.35 am local time (4.35 am Kenyan time).

Earlier in Group A, world leader Johannes Vetter needed all three throws before nailing the auto qualifier in the javelin. The German improved with each round, starting with 82.04m, then throwing 82.08m before finally nailing it with 85.64m.