Athletics
2022 World Athletics Championships: Analysing Annu Rani's chances in javelin throw final
Out of the 12 qualified athletes for the Women's Javelin Throw all the 12 have thrown above 60m this season but none have gone above 65m this season.
The women's javelin throw in the 2022 World Athletics Championships has been termed as an open field right from the start. This statement was further proven correct after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk failed to make it to the final at the Hayward Field in Eugene after finishing a disappointing 21st in the qualification rounds.
Out of the 12 qualified athletes for the Women's Javelin Throw all the 12 have thrown above 60m this season but none have gone above 65m this season, making it incredibly difficult to pick a clear favorite out of the lot.
Among the finalists, Annu Rani's season best of 63.82m is the fourth best.
| Athlete | Season Best |
| Haruka Kitaguchi | 64.32m |
| Kara Winger | 64.26m |
| Shiying Liu | 63.86m |
| Annu Rani | 63.82m |
| Liveta Jasiunaite | 63.80m |
| Elizabeth Gleadle | 63.33m |
| Mackenzie Little | 63.18m |
| Lina Muze | 62.88m |
| Nikola Ogrodnikova | 62.80m |
| Kelsey Lee Barber | 61.40m |
| Annika Fucha | 61.06m |
| Sae Takemoto | 60.84m |
In fact, out of the total 29 throwers who competed in the qualification round only 7 had not breached that mark this season before the qualification round – one of them namely the Olympic Champion Shiying Liu from China had not competed in any event this season before the World Championships.
The number of throws above 60m by each athlete and the consistency of such throws has been neck to neck as well except a couple of athletes.
| Athletes | Throws above 60m in 2022 | Total Competitions in 2022 |
| Haruka Kitaguchi | 8 | 8 |
| Kara Winger | 8 | 8 |
| Kelsey-Lee Barber | 7 | 8 |
| Nikola Ogrodnikova | 6 | 8 |
| Annu Rani | 5 | 6 |
| Mackenzie Little | 5 | 8 |
| Lina Muze | 5 | 8 |
| Elizabeth Gledale | 5 | 10 |
| Liveta Jasiunaite | 3 | 8 |
| Sae Takemoto | 2 | 9 |
| Shiying Liu | 1 | 1 |
| Annika Fuchs | 1 | 8 |
All these basic numbers if anything suggests that, the women's javelin throw final on Sunday morning is going to be very volatile. It is next to impossible to pinpoint the favourites and it might all come down to who among the 12 handles their nerves better.
