<p>Men's hammer throw competition at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.<span>Ivan Tsikhan (Tikhon) defends Hammer Throw title with final round world leader</span></p>
<p><span>With
one round left in the mens Hammer Throw, defending champion Ivan
Tsikhan (Tikhon) of Belarus was out of the medals, and Slovenia and
Slovakia were looking forward to their first world gold and silver,
respectively. But then Tsikhan hurled his hammer out to 83.63m, a
worlds leading performance of the year, and Primoz Kozmus and his
compatriots had to be happy with a first ever silver for a Slovene, and
Libor Charfreitag emulated high hurdler Igor Kovacs from Athens 97, in
winning a bronze for Slovakia. Japanese national hero, Koji Murofushi,
the reigning Olympic champion, has been having problems with his
technique this year, but he still pulled one out on his final throw, a
seasons best of 80.46 metres, to finish sixth.<br /><br />1 375 Ivan Tsikhan [BELARUS] BLR 83.63 (WL)<br />2 993 Primož Kozmus [SLOVENIA] SLO 82.29 .<br />3 1015 Libor Charfreitag [SLOVAK REPUBLIC] SVK 81.60 (SB)<br />4 370 Vadim Devyatovskiy [BELARUS] BLR 81.57 .<br />5 672 Krisztián Pars [HUNGARY] HUN 80.93 .<br />6 750 Koji Murofushi [JAPAN] JPN 80.46 (SB)<br />7 908 Szymon Ziólkowski [POLAND] POL 80.09 .<br />8 619 Markus Esser [GERMANY] GER 79.66 .<br />9 547 Olli-Pekka Karjalainen [FINLAND] FIN 78.35 (SB)<br />10 1019 Miloslav Konopka [SLOVAK REPUBLIC] SVK 78.09 .<br />11 1058 Esref Apak [TURKEY] TUR 76.59 .<br />12 795 Ali Mohamed Al-Zinkawi [KUWAIT] KUW 76.04 <br /><br />Gold - Ivan TSIKHAN, BLR<br /><br />As
you saw everything is possible. I always think in a way that
competition has six rounds or the first part three. It was a big fight,
very tough and very emotional for me. I was ready just could not put
together in first two throws all I could. My legs were not working as I
wanted. Before the last throw I said to myself that I can do it. How
could I do it? It is hard to describe, you must feel it. All my three
victories at world championships are for me equally important and I got
them after hard fight. Our president did not call me yet, I think he
will send a telegram.<br /><br />Silver - Primož KOZMUS, SLO<br /><br />I knew
that I am very strong and expected a throw over 80, 81 metres and to
get a medal. Osaka is the highlight of my season and we planned my
training for that. I am very pleased about the outcome, it is great. I
would like to thank my coach for bringing me into such a good shape. At
my forth and fifth throw, my concentration fell down and I committed
technical mistakes. But my mind is strong and - as quite often - I
managed to put it together again and did my best throw in the last
attempt. I was not bothered too much when they had to repair the net at
the very beginning. We hammer throwers are used to it, it happens quite
often.<br /><br />Bronze - Libor CHARFREITAG, SVK<br /><br />Absolutely amazing
the second medal ever for Slovakia. Although I lost the silver in last
round I am absolutely satisfied. It is my first one and my best throw
today is my second best ever and first time in a competition I achieved
three 80 metres throws. Can I ask for more? First was bad and I needed
to fight in second, it was bad technically, but good result and that
made me motivated for next round. The longest fifth throw was one of
the best technically I ever had. My mother has birthday tomorrow, this
medal is for her. </span></p>
