| Walsh won the qualifying round with 22.14, then swapped first place with Kovacs in the first two rounds of the final. In the third, both men 188 DOHA 2019 PAST RESULTS/WORLD CHAMPS MEN’S SP improved again, the New Zealander to 21.75 and the American to 21.66. Olympic Champion Crouser then produced a fantastic effort measured at 22.31. It would have been a winning mark, but the judge ruled that his left foot had illegally touched the back rim of the circle. The IAAF rule penalising such moments (187.14) was to be relaxed from November 2017, as it was generally felt that such ineffectual contact provided no advantage. That was too late for Crouser, whose longest legitimate mark in London was 21.20. Walsh steamed on, with throws of 21.70 and 21.63 before unleashing his best of the day, 22.03, in the last round. One put before, Kovacs produced his own long foul of 22.08. He was red-flagged because his foot grazed the stop board at the front of the circle. Half of all the attempts in rounds 4-6 were fouls and Žuni’s 21.46 from round 2 held up for bronze. At the first World Championships, this final comprised 11 gliders (putting the shot in a linear movement) and just one rotator (spinning around before the put). Thirty-four years, later there were 11 rotational throwers and just the one glider, Storl. |
