European Athletics celebrated double gold in the space of just over half an hour in Beijing today as Germany’s Christina Schwanitz won the shot put and Great Britain’s Mo Farah retained his 10,000m crown.
It meant the opening day of these IAAF World Championships was one to remember for Europe and could set the standard for a brilliant nine days for the continent.
A year on from taking her first major outdoor title at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich, Germany’s Schwanitz confirmed her superiority at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
She had been the best in qualifying (19.39m) in the monring and in the evening broke probably more than a few home hearts in the stadium as she beat China’s Lijiao Gong.
Gong had led after the first round (20.30m) from Schwanitz (19.80m) but that was just for starters from the German who won silver in Moscow in 2013.
Round three proved the key moment as Schwanitz swept her way into the gold medal position with a brilliant swivel and delivery from the ring for a distance of 20.37m.
Gong could not respond and though Schwanitz had only one more legal throw, 20.10m in round five, she was the champion.
Gong was second from American Michelle Carter (19.76m) with Hungary’s Anita Marton having a great day, too, as she broke the national record with a fourth round 19.48m to finish fourth.
