European Team Championships, 1st League

I was speaking with Swiss National Javelin Coach Terry McHugh last night and he said something along the lines of this concerning yesterday’s competition: when I come out to watch the Olympic Champion and silver medalist, I expect there to be some huge throws … that was the furthest thing from what happened. I competed today for the Swiss National Team at the European Team Championships (ETCH), 1st League competition in Bergen, Norway.  The ETCH is a scored competitions where each send one athlete in each event. In order to make the competition more exciting, some new rules were tried this year. For the throws, each of the twelve athletes were given two attempts, with the top six getting a third attempt and the top four getting a final fourth attempt.

Because of this change, everyone was more nervous than ever. The Olympic Champion even took a safety throw on his first attempt that measured just 68.50m. On average, each competitor was 4.09 meters under their best. This is unheard of in a field that included three Olympic medalists and scores of other top athletes. I also took an easy throw on my first attempt to assure points for my team and then went all out on my next attempt in hopes of making the top six. I ended up fouling the second attempt but was not very disappointed with my performance, despite being the shortest of the year. Hopefully the European Athletic Federation can find a method of making the ETCH more spectator friendly that is also athlete friendly.