Russia’s javelin queen grabs gold and championships record in Daegu

Russia’s Maria Abakumova has won the women's javelin at the worlds with a championship-record throw of 71.99 meters.

In what turned out to be a superbly exciting evening for athletics fans in Korea’s Daegu, the Olympic silver medalist, Maria Abakumova, and the discipline’s long-time queen, Barbora Spotakova of the CzechRepublic, amply demonstrated why this sport is so loved. Abakumova was leading after four attempts with the best result in the world this season, 71.25 meters. However, a toss of 71.58 meters brought world-record holder Spotakova back on top. But Abakumova responded in style, sending the javelin to 71.99 meters, which was also a Russian and World Championship record.And Spotakova seemed to have been knocked down by the turn, as her last attempt landed far short of 70m, meaning the Czech took silver, while Sunette Viljoen of South Africa earned bronze with 68.38 meters. The previous record at the worlds was 71.70, set by Olisdeilys Menendez of Cuba at the 2005 competition in Helsinki, Finland.