Hamish Peacock throwing with the best in Rome
Published Thu 08 Jun 2017
Tasmanian javelin thrower Hamish Peacock will take on some of the best athletes that have ever competed in his event at the Rome Diamond League meeting in the Olympic Stadium.
He enters the Italian capital ranked sixth out of the eleven men on the entry list, which features reigning Olympic champion Thomas Rohler from Germany who recently became the second biggest thrower ever.
At the opening Diamond League meeting in Doha, Rohler launched a 93.90m effort, making world record holder Jan Zelezny the only man ahead of him on the all-time javelin rankings.
Four men who will take part in Rome have previously thrown further than 90 metres, including Rio Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego, the Kenyan who is ranked fourth all-time with his throw of 92.72m from 2015.
Peacock, the 26-year-old from Hobart, has been in fine form this year following his Olympic debut in Rio with seven of his ten competitions this season featuring at least one throw further than 80 metres.
Included in those throws was his second national championship win in Sydney with a throw of 84.36m, just three centimetres short of his personal best set in his home city last year.
"I've been pretty consistent over the past few years but have added some extra distance to that consistency this year which hopefully will put me in good stead later in the season," Peacock said from Rome.
"It was inspiring to see," Peacock said of Rohler's huge throw.
"I suppose it fired me up, particularly as I hadn't thrown particularly well up to that point.
"Trying too hard is a problem with jav at the best of times, being relaxed is important if you want to throw far.
"I don't have a specific distance (in mind to throw this season), my goal is to get my rhythm and timing right and the big throws will come with it."
Peacock, a bronze medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, placed twelfth in qualification at the Rio Games with 77.91m.
At the moment. he is fifth on the all-time Australian rankings, a few metres behind 2010 Commonwealth Games champion Jarrod Bannister’s national record of 89.02m.
He is coached by his father Evan and is set to compete at his third world championships later this year in London after representing Australia in Beijing and Moscow at the last two global meetings.
In the other events, the women’s 5000m will see Rio Olympic 1500m silver medallist Genzebe Dibaba take on the silver medallist in the 5000m Hellen Obiri.
It will be a classic duel between Ethiopia and Kenya on the track within a race that includes seven women who have previously ran faster than 14:45 in their careers.
The men’s 200m will see another compelling duel between two Olympic medallists with Andre De Grasse taking on Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre who finished second and third in Rio last year behind Usain Bolt.
Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers will run in the women’s 100m against reigning Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta who boasts a personal best of 10.78 and is the equal 14th fastest women ever.
Sifan Hassan will be the favourite in the women’s 1500m with a personal best of 3:56.05 as the 17th fastest women ever leading a field featuring 12 women, including Besu Sado and Maureen Koster, who have run under 4:05.