Men’s hammer throw competition began at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London on August 9 and Tajikistan's Rio Olympics champion Dilshod Nazarov qualified for the final at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, according to Tajikistan’s National Olympic Committee (NOC).
After a foul in the first round, Dilshod Nazarov reportedly threw 75.54 meters for automatic qualification in round two.
Tajikistan’s NOC says 32 athletes competed to enter the men’s hammer throw final at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.
IAAF’s website notes that based on his major championships record and experience, Dilshod Nazarov may well feature in the medals again.
IAAF notes that Pawel Fajdek of Poland threw the second furthest in qualification with 76.82 meters. It was a distance only bettered by his team-mate – and perhaps biggest challenger to gold – Wojciech Nowicki, who launched his implement out to 76.85 meters in the later qualifying group.
According to IAAF, Fajdek is one of the biggest favorites in any event to take victory at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 and make it three consecutive world victories after striking gold in Moscow in 2013 and Beijing in 2015.
Former European U20 champion Quentin Bigot was another to breeze through qualification with 76.11m, marking himself as a medal contender for Friday's final.
2016 World U20 champion and recently crowned European U23 champion Bence Halász of Hungary threw 75.56m in the opening round to secure his place, whilst neutral athlete Aleksei Sokyrskii – fourth in the Olympic Games last year – made sure of his place with 75.50m.
British record-holder Nick Miller threw 75.52 meters.
Belarus' Pavel Bareisha soared past the automatic qualifying mark in round three with 75.98m to make his first global championships final.
Another 35-year-old – 2011 and 2013 world silver medalist Krisztian Pars of Hungary – failed to qualify for the final.
Dilshod Nazarov (born 6 May 1982) is a Tajikistani track and field athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the Olympic Games on four occasions (in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016), winning the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, the first gold medal for Tajikistan in the history of the Olympic Games.
He has competed six times at the World Championships in Athletics (2005 to 2015), but has been most successful at regional competitions: he won medals at five consecutive Asian Athletics Championships and was the hammer champion at the Asian Games in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2017. He won his first global medal (a silver) in 2010 at the IAAF Continental Cup.
His personal best for the event is 80.71 meters, set in 2013.
