After struggling with huge health issues, severe pain and creeping sense of resignation, Poland's Maria Andrejczyk won an Olympic silver medal in the women's javelin in Tokyo on Friday. Her 64.61-metre throw was second only to China's Liu Shiying's gold-winning launch of 66.34 metres.
An opening throw of 66.34 metres proved more than enough for China's Liu Shiying to win Olympic gold in the women's javelin on Friday as nobody in the field was able to launch a meaningful challenge.
Maria Andrejczyk of Poland won silver with a throw of 64.61 metres and Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia took bronze with 64.56, her best performance of the season.
Liu, who won silver at the 2019 World Championships, is China's second athletics gold medallist at Tokyo so far after Gong Lijiao won the women's shot put earlier this week.
Andrejczyk, fourth at the 2016 Games and the favourite after producing a world-leading 71.40 metres in May, struggled to find that form.
Already in Rio de Janeiro, she felt there was something wrong with her shoulder. She was experiencing pain which forced her to undergo surgery in 2016.
The pain would not go away even during recovery period.
In 2018, she managed to finish only 5th in Polish championships, but she had to face another obstacle on her way. In October of that year, Andrejczyk found out she had a sinus osteosarcoma – a form of bone cancer.
Luckily, the cancer was benign and there was no need for chemotherapy. Surgery was enough to deal with the issue and the athlete needed less than a month to recover.
She did not want to quit sport so decided she had to bite the bullet. Andrejczyk prepared her training session, including self-invented exercises, all by herself. Inch by inch, she pushed forward and in 2019 delivered her best result since Rio - 63.39.
On May 9, 2021, Maria Andrejczyk shocked the world with the third-best throw in the history of the sport - 71.40.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: eurosport