Scott fights for hammer medal

Trinidad and Tobago’s Pan-American Games bronze-medallist Candice Scott hurled the hammer (4kg) 67.27 metres yesterday and put herself in a strong position for a medal at the 9th IAAF World Outdoor Championships.

Competing among the first set of qualifiers, 22-year-old Scott finished third among the seven qualifiers from her group who advanced to tomorrow’s final which will be contested at the Stade de France, Paris. French hometown favourite Manuela Montebrun led her group and the qualifiers with a throw of 71.36 while Russian Olga Kuzenkova was second with 69.53 metres. Scott was third with 67.27 but was fifth overall because Cuban 2003 Pan-Am Games gold-medallist Yipsi Moreno with a throw of 70.91 topped the other group, which produced five competitors for the final. Scott’s 67.27 was fifth overall as Germany’s Betty Heider produced a throw of 67.46 to be fourth while the Romanian world record holder Mihaela Melinte (76.07 metres) was third in Group “B” but sixth overall. The IAAF qualifying standard for the final is 68.50 metres or at least the twelve best throwers. From yesterday’s two rounds, only Montebrun, Moreno and Kuzenkova achieved the mark to advance while the others made it by virtue of finishing among the top performers. Scott created history and produced a throw of 69.06 at the Pan-American Games in the Dominican Republic two weeks ago to cop the bronze medal and became the first Trinidadian woman athlete to achieve the distinction at any major competition. Today, she would need to better that and get beyond the 70 metres mark for one of the prized medals.

New junior 100-metre record holder and senior silver medallist Darrel Brown’s inspirational performance on Monday should help Scott to get the extra drive and motivation to conquer the world’s best women throwers. She entered the World Championships as the 20th leading thrower for this year. And after the first round yesterday, she finished in fifth position. Scott is set to create another historic moment for TT and the Caribbean in Paris. Moreno is the world leader with 75.14 and she smashed the Pan-Am record with four consecutive throws of 73.75, 73.05, 74.35 and 73.89 and she should be favoured for the gold but Montebrun have also produced remarkable consistency with 74.50, 74.43, 73.74, 73.31, 73.21 and 73.11 to have seven of the top sixteen marks for the year. Moreno has the other nine and the battle for the gold will be between them. Cuba’s Yunaika Crawford who edged out Scott for the Pan-Am silver did not qualify as she placed ninth (64.59) in the same group with the Trinidadian strongwoman who has already made a big impression on the world stage.

World Championships Hammer Finalists
1.Manuela Montebrun (France)- 71.36 (Q); 2. Yipsi Moreno (Cuba)- 70.91 (Q); 3. Olga Kuzenkova (Russia)- 69.53; 4. Betty Heider (Germany)- 67.46; 5. Candice Scott (TT)- 67.35; 6. Mihaela Melinte (Romania)- 67.27; 7. Anna Mohan (USA)- 67.67.25; 8. Kamila Skolimowska (Poland)- 66.38; 9. Susanne Keil (Germany)- 66.30; 10. Melissa Price (USA)- 66.13; 11. Lorraine Shaw (Great Britain)- 66.10; 12. Yuan Gu (China)- 66.02.