Viljoen battles in Diamond League

Sunette Viljoen was in action at the 41st Athletissima event in Switzerland, and couldn’t quite reach the heights of her performance in Rio.

Cape Town - Winning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics was the ultimate high in Sunette Viljoen’s distinguished career, so it was understandable that she battled to get back to her best at a Diamond League meeting in Lausanne a week later.

The 32-year-old was the only South African athlete in action at the 41st Athletissima event in Switzerland on Thursday night, and couldn’t quite reach the heights of her performance at the Olympic Stadium last Thursday.

Viljoen could only muster a 54.50m effort in the first round, with only two athletes – Czech Republic’s world record holder Barbora Spotakova and Belarus’ Tatsiana Khaladovich – going beyond the 60-metre mark with their opening throws in the absence of Croatia’s Olympic champion Sara Kolak.

But with the controversial Diamond League field event rules dictating that only the top four athletes are allowed their last three attempts, Viljoen had it all to do with her next two throws.

She duly produced a 62.47m with her second attempt, which placed her third, but she was surpassed by Latvia’s Madara Palameika (64.13m) and then immediately after that by Khaladovich (64.15m).

When Viljoen lined up for her third throw, she needed to beat a distance of 62.85m by Australia’s Kathryn Mitchell, but it was not to be for Viljoen as she recorded a 60.02m effort.

That saw her sit out the last three rounds, which saw Spotakova – who won a bronze medal in Rio – roaring back with a fifth-round throw of 64.48m to take the lead.

But she had a foul throw in her last round, and that opened the door for Khaladovich, Palameika and Mitchell. And true to her status as the javelin leader in the Diamond League this year, Palameika stepped up and produced a thrilling effort of 65.29m to clinch a dramatic victory on the night and extend her season advantage to 14 points over Mitchell (39 to 25), with Viljoen on 24.

ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za

@ashfakmohamed

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