Track Beauty of the Week: Vira Rebryk Віра Вікторівна Ребрик

Vira Rebryk is this week's Track Beauty!

The 23-year old Ukrainian is the reigning World Junior record holder for the javelin throw. She set the U20 standard of 63.01m at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz back in 2008.[1] Naturally, her track record as an age-group athlete was immaculate, having won World Youth and World Junior silvers and the European Junior title on top of her World Junior gold medal.[2]

Photo from TrailPilot/Wikimedia

Despite runner-up finishes at the Universiade and the European U23 Championships and a finals appearance at the Berlin World Championships, the Ukrainian javelin prodigy had struggled in her transition to the senior ranks.[3] Rebryk failed to progress beyond the qualifying rounds of the 2010 European Championships and the 2011 World Championships. 

Vira finally made her breakthrough at the Helsinki European Championships this year, where she threw the javelin to a new personal best 66.86m.[4] Her monster throw propelled the Ukrainian to joint fourth place in the 2012 top list. Unfortunately, she failed to replicate her stellar form at the London Olympic Games a month later.

But then again, her performance in Helsinki has emphasized the point that Rebryk will be a major contender in the event in the years to come.

References:

1. "Vira Rebryk." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vira_Rebryk. Retrieved 12-29-2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.

Track Beauty of the Week: Goldie Sayers

Goldie Sayers is this week's Track Beauty!

Amidst the pouring British rain, Goldie stamped her class on a loaded javelin field a month before the London Olympic Games. Sayers threw a new personal best of 66.17m in Crystal Palace to snatch the win at that particular leg of the Diamond League. But her emphatic victory came at a huge cost, as Goldie injured her right arm in the process.

Sayers at the Crystal Palace. (Photo from Robbie Dale)

She still managed to compete at her home Olympic Games, albeit at a sub-par quality. Sayers crashed out of her third Olympics without reaching the final.

For the better part of the past decade, Sayers has been the poster girl of British javelin throwing. As a junior, she placed sixth at the World Junior Championships in Chile. [1] She did even better at the European Junior Championships in Grosetto a year later, winning the silver medal with a throw of 55.40m. [2]

Her first senior final came at the Helsinki World Championships in 2005, where she came in  at 12th place. Although she threw three centimeters shorter than at the Athens Olympics,  Goldie fared much better in Helsinki in terms of overall placing. Sayers almost barged into the medals in Beijing, but her impressive 65.75m throw was only good enough for fourth place.

Judging by her sterling performance in Crystal Palace, 2012 should have been Goldie's year had she not succumbed to injury.

References:

1. "Goldie Sayers." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldie_Sayers. Retrieved 10-7-2012.
2. Ibid.

Track Beauty of the Week: Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir

Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir is this week's Track Beauty!

Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir competing in Switzerland. (Photo from Trailpilot)

Hjálmsdóttir is Iceland's best female javelin thrower. The 26-year old has a personal best of 62.77m from the qualifying rounds at the London Olympic Games. Thanks to Ásdís' classy throw, she barged into the final of the highly comeptitive event. She eventually finished in a respectable 11th place, notching a best throw of 59.08m in the final. 

The javelin thrower has been competing in high level meets since 2001, when she made her international debut at the World Youth Champiomships in Debrecen. Ásdís' record in age group competitions has been solid, with finals appearances at the 2004 World Junior Championships and the 2005 European U23 Championships.

She made her Olympic debut in Beijing. A year later, the Berlin World Championships-bound Hjálmsdóttir bettered the 60m mark for the first time in her career. Her curriculum vitae speaks volumes about her experience.

Prior to the London Olympics, Hjálmsdóttir actually had a forgettable campaign at the Helsinki European Championships, as she crashed out in the qualifying rounds with a sub-par 55.29m. Surely, her superb performance in London more than made up for the disappoint in Helsinki!

Sources:

Wikipedia

IAAF

Additional Link: 
Hjálmsdóttir's Facebook Page

Tiina Lillak: Finnish Javelin Legend

When I was watching the javelin qualification rounds of the Helsinki European Championships, I noticed a prominent banner. Written in bold letters were the words: “Finland the Javelin Country.” Indeed, the javelin throw is a national past time in the Nordic countries. Of the sixty-nine medals awarded in the event since 1896, a staggering thirty-two medals had been won by troika of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. In fact, Finland had swept the medals twice in Olympic history.

Tiina Lillak circa 1983. (Photo from Jos Hendrix)

The Euro Sport announcers then went on to talk about a certain Tiina Lillak, and how she snatched the inaugural World Championships gold on her final throw – in front of thousands of ecstatic Finns.

Read more...

Vamos, Leryn Franco!

It's not easy juggling an athletics and a modelling career. Leryn Franco, the Paraguayan javelin throw record holder, is a veteran of numerous international championships. Leryn has considerable major championship experience, having competed at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Read: Leryn Franco answers the 10-for-10 quiz

Leryn Franco is not just another pretty face. Franco is dominant in South American circles.

Read: "Track Beauty of the Week - Leryn Franco"

Leryn on fashion model-mode. (Photo from Tetsumo's Flickr/Wikimedia)

On top of her impressive modelling repertoire, Franco has won medals at the South American Championships - from the Youth, Junior, U23, and Senior levels. In the run-up prior to the London Olympics, the Paraguayan star set a new national record (57.77m), en route to winning silver at the Ibero-American Championships in Venezuela.

Source: 
Leryn's Wikipedia profile