Pars shines in Sofia

Hungary’s Krisztian Pars produced the best result on the first day of 11th European Cup Winter Throwing in Sofia on Saturday winning the hammer with a throw of 79.84m. The Barcelona bronze medallist also produced five throws of over 79 meters. 

Most of the hammer throwers struggled to come up with their best due to adverse weather conditions. Belarusian Yuri Shayunoy finished second with 77.41m and Ukraine’s Oleksiy Skoyrskiy 76.84m also finished on the podium, with both coming up with their best throws in the fifth round. 

Barcelona silver medallist and defending champion Nicola Vizzoni only finished 6th with a best of 74.58m. 

In the U23 hammer event, Siarhei Kalamoets of Belarus snatched victory from Norwegian Eivind Henriksen, who was leading after four rounds with the first and second round throws measuring exactly 72.37m, with a throw of 72.94m in the fifth round. 

Turkish record holder Ercument Olgundeniz won the top prize in discus with a throw of 63.31m while Dutch Eric Cadee finished second with 62.15m and Romanian Sergiu Ursu third with 62.00. 

Germany’s pre-event favourite Markus Munch could only finish fourth with 61.25. 

In the U23 discus, Mykyta Nesterneko of Ukraine won the gold medal with a fourth attempt throw of 59.71, Briton Brett Morse tried to attack with his last throw but fell short by 21 cm.

The world junior record holder Vira Rebryk was steady in bad weather conditions and won the U23 women’s javelin event with a throw of 57.95m in second round.

Estonian junior Liina Laasma improved his national junior record to 57.04m and was second. 

In the women's shot put, Alena Kopets of Belarus came up with a throw of 17.71m to win ahead of French Jessica Cerival 17.52m. Italian Chiara Rosa won the bronze with 17.30m. 

Ukrainian Hanna Hatsko managed a throw of 58.99m in her last attempt to win the women’s javelin event. Germany’s Esther Eisenlauer won the silver medal with a throw of 56.99m while the bronze went to Iceland national record holder Asids Hjalmsdottir who came up with a best throw of 56.44m.