He had very ambitious plans ahead of Tokyo, including winning a medal. At the Olympics, he got knocked out already in qualifications, after which he accused the organisers of killing the rivalry. Now, Poland's javelin thrower Marcin Krukowski has shared in social media his detailed view on what happened in Tokyo.
He ended 13th in group B qualifiers. After two foul attempts, he launched a disappointing 74.65-metre throw.
Only six athletes managed to reach 83.50m which guaranteed direct qualification. But more surprises, even sensations, were to come.
In the final, absolute favourite Johannes Vetter, with whom Krukowski had earlier vowed to compete, ended only 9th. Previously, the German had arrived in Japan with a breathtaking 96.29m achieved in late-May. The Pole was right behind him with 89.55.
In Tokyo, Vetter launched a 82.52m throw. Neeraj Chopra produced the best throw of 87.58 metres to claim a historic first Olympic athletics gold medal for India. The Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch won silver with 86.67 metres and Vitezslav Vesely claimed the bronze with 85.44.
"How much it hurts if you’re out for such a stupid reason"
In a statement posted in English, Krukowski congratulated the medal winners. "They did what it took to win. Credit goes to the man on the podium... and it's indisputable," he stressed.
"This however does not change the fact, the organizers had ruined the event completely. Not just by making it impossible to reach performance level adequate to the Olympic Games themselves, but risking athletes health in a first place, which sounds like a criminal case to me. Some of us got seriously damaged. Prior to final instead of looking for a solution, they did covered up the whole runway with ice to try to make it stiffer," he argued.
The Pole had complained on the runway immediately after qualifications, arguing that it gets too soft in high temperatures and thus makes a good throw impossible.
"Whoever says 'the conditions where the same for everybody' or 'they needed to adapt and throw' is literally speaking right, but either does not know much about men's javelin throw or is a complete ignorant," Krukowski wrote.
"I'm not saying they did it on purpose but is it responsible to introduce 'innovative' solutions at the most important event without prior checking? Should the surface looks like that after few throws? Someone who has never prepared for one start for a few years will not understand how much it hurts if you’re out for such a stupid reason," he stressed.
So much for Krukowski. The other Pole - Cyprian Mrzygłód - also didn't make it in qualifications.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, eurosport.pl, instagram.com
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: eurosport