A 90-metre javelin throw at any stage of the season is noteworthy. But a 93.90m throw on a season’s debut suggests Thomas Rohler could be set for an incredible year.
The Olympic champion, competing in Doha at the opening IAAF Diamond League competition of the year, saw his early lead taken away from him in the third round as compatriot Johannes Vetter sent his spear out to a world-leading 89.68m.
But Vetter’s mark lasted only a few minutes at the top of the world list as Rohler responded in the next round with 93.90m.
As it flashed up on the scoreboard, so did various sets of initials to indicate that it was a world lead, a meeting record, an IAAF Diamond League record, and a national record. It also, perhaps more significantly, moves him to second on the world all-time list behind world record-holder Jan Zelezny.
The Czech legend owns five throws in excess of Rohler’s mark from Doha; the most recent one of those was more than 20 years ago.
“I did not see that coming, I did not expect that in the first start of the season,” said Rohler, whose previous best was 91.28m. “I’m second best, ever. It will take some days to realise that.
“It was an amazing competition for all of us,” he added. “We had a good training camp this year; it was early so we did a lot of fast training on the grass.”
Meanwhile, Olympic champion Caster Semenya hasn’t lost any of the unbeatable aura she carried throughout last season.
The South African sat close to pacemaker Jenny Meadows on the first lap before taking up the sole lead and moving away from the rest of the field. Olympic bronze medallist Margaret Wambui was the only athlete capable of covering the move, but Semenya crossed the line a comfortable winner in a world-leading meeting record of 1:56.61.
Wambui was second in 1:57.03 as fellow Kenyan Eunice Sum was third in 1:58.76. Habitam Alema was fourth in 1:58.92 while world 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba, making her 800m debut, was fifth in 1:59.37.