Anita Włodarczyk takes silver in Olympic hammer throw
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
11.08.2012 07:26
Anita Włodarczyk won the silver medal in the women's hammer throw, Friday evening, at the Olympic Stadium, with Tatyana Lysenko of Russia celebrating gold.
Anita Włodarczyk: photo - PAP/EPA/KERIM OKTEN
Włodarczyk threw 77.10 metres to the Russian's 78.18.
The battle for bronze took a bizarre turn, however, when a throw by world champion Betty Heidler was measured from five metres short of where the hammer landed.
At first the officials annulled the throw by the German when they realised that they hadn't in fact seen the throw, and told her to throw again, but she failed to match the 73.90 metres she threw originally and a surprised Zhang Wenxiu was given the bronze medal.
Protests from the German team followed, with officials being persuaded to watch video footage from one of the many cameras that captured the disputed throw.
Eventually, the hapless officials found the mark where the German thrower's hammer landed and a relieved world champion was finally awarded the bronze medal. (pg)