“I can’t say I’m disappointed for not being able to have another throw attempt due to a groin and ankle injury, but who knows, maybe I could have won gold”, said Yego who also becomes the first African to win a medal in the men’s javelin throw.
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Kenya’s world javelin champion Julius Yego advanced to the final after registering a throw of 83.60 metres as the event got underway on Wednesday night.
Rohler reached 87.40m in the first round to slot into second place behind Yego’s 88.24m, however, the Kenyan was to injure himself with his second throw and that sadly ended his interest in the competition although his first effort stood up for the gold medal and he managed to gingerly return to collect his medal.
Rohler described his emotions after the win: “It’s just awesome”. Everybody is awake. I mean, it’s 3 a.m.in Germany.
Yego acknowledged his rival as the worthy victor: “A country like Germany has a history in javelin”.
Yego, who shocked the world by winning a world title at the World Championships in Beijing, China previous year, said he would have improved on his throw were it not for the injury. “When you are in good form anything can happen”. He needed a personal best on his last throw to bump Rohler from the gold medal position but produced a no throw and finished with bronze.
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Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago, the reigning Olympic champion, was able to stay on the podium for a second straight Olympic games, just beating out fourth-place Johannes Vetter of Germany by 0.06m for the bronze medal. Serbia was looking to make its first Olympic volleyball medal as an independent nation gold, but a Chinese team playing its best volleyball of the tournament at the right time kept that from happening. I was quite excited to throw.
