2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's discus throw

The women's discus throw at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 19 and August 21.

Reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton was the favourite for the gold. She had set a career best and had the four longest throws of any athlete that season, although she had not competed since late June. Franka Dietzsch was another prominent performer: the 41-year-old was the defending champion and was making her 10th appearance of the tournament, but a weak season had underlined her waning powers. Cuban Yarelis Barrios looked set to build upon her World and Olympic silver medals from the last two years and Aimin Song had also performed well during the season. Veteran athletes Nicoleta Grasu and Natalya Sadova were also favoured to be among the top performers of the competition.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-09). Women's Discus Throw - PREVIEW . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-21.

Chinese athletes led the qualification rounds with Ma Xuejun and Song topping their respective groups. Newcomers Żaneta Glanc and Dani Samuels rounded out the top four qualifiers. Dietzsch sole legal throw of the competition was not enough for qualification, leaving Nadine Müller as the only host competitor to make the final. Brown Trafton edged into the final, needing all three throws to qualify.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-19). Event Report - Women's Discus Throw - Qualification . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-21.

In the final, Grasu and Barrios quickly established themselves with marks of 65.20 m and 64.44 m, respectively, in the first two throws. Samuels, Glanc and Müller proved themselves on their third attempts, each throwing over 62 metres. Brown Trafton and Ma Xuejun both threw poorly and were among the four athletes eliminated after three throws. Personal bests of 64.76 and 65.44 m in the fourth and fifth round put Samuels in the lead. On the final throws, Song threw only enough to move up to fifth place, leader Grasu fouled but Barrios responded, although her mark of 65.31 m guaranteed her only second place.Ramsak, Bob (2009-08-21). Event Report - Women's Discus Throw - Final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-21.

Samuels was a surprise winner: at 21 years old, she was the youngest ever World discus champion,Dani Samuels - In A Spin. Inside Athletics. Retrieved on 2009-10-21. and she had progressed from Youth champion, to Junior winner, to the senior title in just four years. Barrios had matched her silver medal achievement at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and Grasu's bronze was her fourth medal in her career at the World Championships.

Medalists GoldSilverBronze

Records World record76.80Neubrandenburg, East Germany7 July 1988Championship record71.62Rome, Italy31 August 1987World leading66.21San Mateo, United States24 May 2009African record64.87Stellenbosch, South Africa2 March 2003Asian record71.68Beijing, China14 March 1992North American record70.88Havana, Cuba8 May 1992South American record61.96São Leopoldo, Brazil21 May 1998European record76.80Neubrandenburg, East Germany7 July 1988Oceanian record68.72Auckland, New Zealand22 January 1994

Qualification standards A standardB standard 62.00 m 58.50 m

Schedule Date Time RoundAugust 19, 2009 10:10 QualificationAugust 21, 2009 20:20 Final

Results

Qualification Qualification: Qualifying Performance 61.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nationality #1 #2 #3 Result Notes A Ma Xuejun 63.38 63.38 Q, SB B Song Aimin 62.80 62.80 Q B Dani Samuels 62.67 62.67 Q B Żaneta Glanc 49.79 62.43 62.43 Q A Yarelis Barrios 62.19 62.19 Q A Sandra Perković 61.02 62.16 62.16 Q B Natalya Sadova 61.94 61.94 Q A Nicoleta Grasu 60.25 61.78 61.78 Q A Nadine Müller 61.63 61.63 Q 10 B Mélina Robert-Michon 58.36 61.53 61.53 Q 11 A Stephanie Brown Trafton 60.15 57.44 61.23 61.23 q 12 B Aretha Thurmond 60.09 59.09 61.08 61.08 q 13 B Xu Shaoyang 59.67 61.02 57.96 61.02 SB 14 B Yarisley Collado 59.56 59.23 60.37 60.37 15 B Seema Antil 59.85 59.85 SB 16 A Elizna Naudé 59.46 59.46 59.67 59.67 SB 17 A Wioletta Potępa 59.54 59.54 18 B Věra Pospíšilová-Cechlová 57.87 58.37 59.52 59.52 19 A Dragana Tomašević 58.32 59.30 59.38 59.38 20 A Svetlana Ivanova-Saykina 59.31 58.45 59.31 21 B Joanna Wiśniewska 58.85 58.85 22 A Becky Breisch 58.50 58.08 58.50 23 B Franka Dietzsch 58.44 58.44 24 B Vera Begić 54.63 58.25 58.25 25 A Yania Ferrales 57.71 55.84 58.24 58.24 26 B Anna Söderberg 56.38 57.92 57.92 27 A Kateryna Karsak 56.79 56.79 28 A Krishna Poonia 56.75 56.75 29 A Elisângela Adriano 54.99 52.00 55.75 55.75 30 B Rocío Comba 52.62 54.69 54.69 31 B Zinaida Sendriute 52.85 54.55 54.55 32 A Sofia Larsson 51.87 54.28 54.28 33 A Olena Antonova 54.28 54.28 34 B Li Wen-Hua 53.88 49.91 52.49 53.88 35 B Kazai Suzanne Kragbé 52.24 53.84 52.79 53.84 NR 36 A Venera Getova 53.33 53.33 37 B Tereapii Tapoki 45.29 45.29 SB A Ellina Zvereva B Iryna Yatchenko B Natalya Fokina-Semenova

Final Rank Athlete Nationality #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Result Notes Dani Samuels 59.05 62.71 64.76 65.44 65.44 PB Yarelis Barrios 64.44 63.87 61.17 65.31 65.31 SB Nicoleta Grasu 65.20 62.38 60.68 63.41 65.20 SB Zaneta Glanc 58.69 59.83 62.66 57.71 62.66 Song Aimin 51.69 60.50 61.78 61.39 62.42 62.42 Nadine Müller 57.53 57.62 62.04 60.40 62.04 Natalya Sadova 60.70 61.78 59.31 60.44 58.26 61.44 61.78 Mélina Robert-Michon 59.80 60.92 60.89 59.90 59.69 60.92 Sandra Perković 60.77 60.77 10 Aretha Thurmond 59.89 59.88 59.89 11 Ma Xuejun 58.79 58.58 58.79 12 Stephanie Brown Trafton 58.53 57.94 58.53

References General Discus throw results. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-10-21.

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