Sergey Litvinov’s only disappointment was that his victory was slightly devalued by the absence of Yuriy Sedykh. The defending champion started the final with a moderate 74.76, but won with his next effort of 83.06.
The battle for the other medals was ferocious. At the halfway point in the competition, Nikulin’s 79.48 was second with Weis’s 79.02 third. The order stayed the same in the fourth round, but there were fireworks from round five. First, Sahner t
hrew 79.50 to overtake Nikulin by the smallest possible margin. Next to throw, Nikulin responded with 80.18. Weis immediately matched that distance. Both were then overtaken by Haber, who closed the round with 80.76.
In round 6, Tamm threw 80.84 to move from sixth to second. Sahner, who had slipped from second to sixth in the space of one round, moved up again to fourth with his final throw. In all, six men bettered 80m, the most ever.
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