The
medals have been decided in the men's javelin throw at the 2016
Olympics, and gold went to Thomas Röhler of Germany with a throw of
90.30 meters. That came just 0.27 short of the Olympic record, set eight
years ago in Beijing. The 24-year-old is competing in his first
Olympics and he certainly made the most of it.
Julius Yego of Kenya earned the
silver a throw of 88.24 meters. It's the first medal Kenya has ever won
in the javelin, for either men or women. Yego made the finals in London
as well and finished last among the field of 12, but he improved on
that by winning the 2015 World Championships. The 27-year-old now has an
Olympic medal to add to his growing collection of hardware.
Finally, the bronze went
to Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago with a throw of 85.38 meters.
Walcott won the gold four years ago in London and actually improved on
his distance this time around in Rio, but the rest of the field improved
even more. Like with Yego, the 23-year-old is the only athlete from his
country ever to medal in this event -- much less to win, or medal
multiple times.
Americans Cyrus Hostetler, Sam
Crouser and Sean Furey all failed to qualify for the finals of the event
this year. Only the top 12 advanced, and those three finished in 20th,
34th and 35th out of 36 competitors. It was a poor showing, and Team USA
will have to go back to the drawing board. The US hasn't medaled in the
men's event since Bill Schmidt earned bronze in 1972, and they haven't
won since Cy Young (unrelated to the baseball pitcher) in 1952.