Stuttgart GER - The fourth edition of the IAAF World Athletics Final takes place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September. We begin our Event Category Previews with the THROWS.

The entry list of the IAAF World Athletics Final (WAF) is decided according to the World Athletics Tour (WAT) Standings. The top 7 athletes with the greatest number of points from their five best results (4 for throws) will qualify for each event of the WAF. For races of 1500m and over, 11 athletes will be qualified.

After the last qualifying meeting, the IAAF Golden League meeting in Berlin (Sunday 3 September), the process began to contact all the athletes concerned to ascertain that they are fit and willing to compete. Not until those answers are received, wild card entries are decided, and the usual technical meeting is held on the day before the World Athletics Final, can the final start list be made available. Consequently, our previews are as accurate as possible before that time.

Click here for the final World Athletics Tour Standings 2006

MEN

Shot put

Christian Cantwell, the 2003 winner, will arrive in Stuttgart as the man to beat. The 25-year-old American has lost just twice in 15 outdoor competitions this year, and has produced seven of the year’s 10 farthest throws, and four of the five that sailed beyond 22 metres. He leads the world with his 22.45 heave from Gateshead in early June, and has remained consistent, with few exceptions, well beyond 21 metres throughout the summer.

But Cantwell’s victory is hardly “a sure thing,” and he should expect a challenge from World Indoor champion Reese Hoffa. Since his Moscow triumph and undefeated indoor campaign, Hoffa has displayed remarkable consistency, with top-three finishes in each of his 14 competitions, including victories in six. In late June he improved his PB to 21.96 and will arrive in Stuttgart with the momentum of a big win in Berlin.

Dan Taylor, another American, has pieced together a solid campaign, and could also be a podium threat. After his 21.59 personal best in New York in early June, the Ohio native has thrown beyond 21 metres on two other occasions, and has consistently finished in the top three in most of his competitions.

Others in the podium hunt include Dutch national record holder Rutger Smith (21.60) and Poland’s Tomasz Majewski. Defending champion Adam Nelson, who hasn’t competed since his 22.04 effort t win the U.S. title in late June, remains a questions mark.

Discus throw

Last year, Virgilijus Alekna arrived at the World Athletics Final with just one loss in 15 competitions that season. This year, Lithuania’s twice World and Olympic champion will arrive in Stuttgart undefeated in 14 competitions, as the world leader (71.80 in Rethymno in late July), and again, as clearly the man to beat. Alekna has thrown 69.08 or farther seven times this season; only four others have thrown as far this year, and each only once.

Last year’s runner-up Gerd Kanter of Estonia has been very consistent again in 2006, more often than not finishing second only to Alekna, and has a 69.58 effort to his credit this year. Second at the European Championships and Zurich, Kanter will be difficult to keep from the podium. Aleksander Tammert completes a solid 1-2 punch for Estonia, and is a threat as well. Opening with a 70.82 national record in April, Tammert won the bronze at the European championships and most recently finished fourth at Zurich’s Weltklasse.

American Ian Waltz reached nearly 69 metres in late Spring, and is currently fourth in the standings. Hungary’s Zoltan Kovago, third last year, had a solid early season, reaching a PB 69.95, but hasn’t competed since early July, and remains a question mark. German veteran Lars Riedel reached 69.39 in May, perhaps enough to convince selectors that the German deserves a final 2006 appearance before a home crowd.

Hammer Throw

Of all the throws, the men’s Hammer appears to be the most wide open.

World leader Vadim Devyatovskiy of Belarus (82.95) has produced two of the year’s three farthest throws, and took the bronze in Gothenburg, so will certainly be a factor in Stuttgart. Szymon Ziólkowski of Poland has thrown beyond 82 metres, notched several wins during a busy season, but faltered in Gothenburg, where he finished fifth. Most recently, he warmed up for Stuttgart 79.76 throw in Königs Wusterhausen to finish runner-up.

Krisztián Pars of Hungary was only sixth at the European championships, but with a pair of 80-plus metre wins over the past week, he has the best momentum as Stuttgart approaches. Ivan Tikhon has won just twice in eight competitions this year, but after an 81.11 season’s best in Gothenburg to claim the European crown, he won when it most mattered. While he’s competed less, Olympic champion Koji Murofushi of Japan has quietly pieced together an undefeated season in five outings, and has improved steadily, most recently with a season’s best 81.77 in Helsinki in late July.

Another to watch is Finn Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, the silver medallist in Gothenburg, and the winner of the World Athletics Final in 2004.

Javelin Throw

Barring major surprises, the competition in the men’s Javelin Throw will continue the seesaw battle between Norway’s Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen and Finn Tero Pitkamaki. The pair dominate the world list this year - each has thrown beyond 91 metres, the Norwegian 91.59 and the Finn 91.11 - and together, have taken all of the season’s major wins. Most recently, after finishing second to Pitkamaki in Zurich, Thorkildsen has come back with wins in Brussels in Berlin. But last year, it was Pitkamaki that was the hungriest, and will be eager to defend his title.

The only looming threat at the pair’s dominance at the moment is Latvian Vadims Vasilevskis, who reached a national record of 90.43 in May. He’s been looking for that form ever since though, and over the past month has hovered in the 80 to 83 metre range. Cuban Guillermo Martinez (87.18) and Latvian Eriks Rags (85.99) are podium threats as well, while World record holder Jan Zelezny, who showed his big meet mettle when taking the bronze at the European championships, is certainly the sentimental favourite in this, his farewell season.

WOMEN

Shot Put

She hasn’t competed much, but when she has, New Zealand’s Valerie Vili has been unstoppable. Undefeated in five competitions this year, Vili will arrive in Stuttgart in a solid position to move up a notch from her runner-up finish last year. From her 20.20 Area record in January, to her recent 19.83 win in Linz, the Kiwi has shown impeccable form throughout the calendar year.

But Natallia Khoroneko of Belarus, the European champion, has been in solid form all year as well. The World Indoor champion, she’s won all but two of her seven competitions outdoors, most recently a 20.17 PB in Padova.

Cuba’s Yumileidi Cumba has been on a roll this season as well. She’s won all but one of her 11 competitions, and has thrown beyond 19 metres consistently, topped by her season’s best 19.66 from late May.

Discus Throw

Germany’s World champion Franka Dietzsch, last year’s runner-up, will be one the host nation’s best bets for home victory. Virtually unstoppable this season, she only faltered once, when she was upset at the European championships by the young Russian, Darya Pishchalnikova. The world leader at 68.51, has produced six of the year’s 10 farthest throws.

Romanian Nicoleta Grasu has pieced together a fine season, capped by her bronze medal in Gothenburg. She reached her season’s best 65.21 in late May, but has finished lower than third only twice in 18 competitions. Poland’s Wioletta Potepa (66.01), Czech Vera Cehlova (65.44) and American Aretha Thurmond (64.41) are other possible entries who have thrown beyond 64 metres this year.

Hammer Throw

Competition in the women’s Hammer Throw has been of the highest quality this year, with the drama almost certainly continuing in Stuttgart.

Tatyana Lysenko won the European title, set a pair of World records (77.41 and 77.80*) and has won eight of her 12 contests; in the other four she was second. Most recently, she displayed her ferocious competitiveness with a come from behind victory in Zagreb with a massive 76.54 throw.

But her compatriot Gulfiya Khanafeyeva has been hot as well. With three of the year’s five best throws, including a short-lived 77.26 World record and a silver medal in Gothenburg, she will be looking to cap her season on a high note.

But so will German star Betty Heidler, whose national record setting spree began in Ostrava in late May (72.91) and continued well into the summer, with her 76.55 in late July. After a narrow defeat to Lysenko in Zagreb, where she threw 76.11, Heidler followed up with a 75.02 victory in Königs Wusterhausen on Saturday.

* pending ratification