BUDAPEST (VG) Eivind Henriksen (32) struggled with the heat when he qualified for the final of the World Championship in the hammer throw.
Eivind Henriksen – who has both World Cup and Olympic silver in his trophy cabinet, as well as European Championship bronze – qualified for the final (Sunday evening at 5:50 p.m.) with a throw of 75.37 meters. Henriksen finished ninth in qualifying. A total of twelve reached the final.
– It’s a bit as expected, it’s been unstable all season. I have no control, Henriksen told NRK.
While it was raining and around 20 degrees on Saturday morning, the sun came out during the day and the temperature rose to just over 30 degrees.
– I’m sorry I didn’t bring an ice vest, said Henriksen.
To VG, he specifies:
– I was about to burst and had a bit of hypoglycemia. There was emergency food along the way with chocolate, Henriksen says with a laugh.
– What did you learn today?
– Never drop an ice vest.
He will be satisfied with a top 8 in a final – in what he calls a bad period.
– It’s good to reach the final, but the feeling is not good. It’s unstable during the day, says Henriksen.
Ethan Katzberg of Canada was the best in qualifying with 81.18 meters. Bence Halasz of Hungary and Wojciech Nowicki of Poland followed with throws of just over 78 meters. Henriksen says he can go 77-78 yards on a good day.
The throw of 73.13 was not far enough for Thomas Mardal, the new Norwegian hammer champion. His toilet is finished.
– It’s frustrating to throw badly and not know why, Mardal told NRK.
His longest throw came on the second attempt, and experts made it clear that it was far from an optimal attempt.
– The second throw looked a little convulsive, said NRK athletics expert Vebjørn Rodal on the show.
– This is not going to last, so here it will be all or nothing in the last attempt, continued NRK commentator Jann Post.
Unfortunately for Mardal, he was unable to increase the length. Her third and final attempt finished in 72.62. His first attempt was 72.40 meters.
– It’s annoying that it doesn’t work in the biggest competition of the year. This shows that I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be, says Mardal.
PS! From 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Narve Gilje Nordås will run the 1500 meters. Earlier in the day Amalie Sæten pers. in 1500 meters.