Australian athletes Kathryn Mitchell and Julian Wruck ramped up their Commonwealth Games preparations with impressive performances in the US on Saturday.
Victorian javelin thrower Mitchell finished second at the prestigious IAAF Diamond League meeting in New York while Queensland discus thrower Wruck won silver in the NCAA Division 1 college final in Oregon.
Mitchell led the opening two rounds of the competition before Germany's Linda Stahl moved past her with a third and final round of throw of 67.32m to take the lead in both the competition and the world this year.
Mitchell's opening throw of 66.08m was two centimetres short of her personal best and had her set for gold until Stahl produced the goods while the Australian could only manage a 62.55m and a 61.43m with her final two efforts.
In Oregon, Wruck led the competition with a throw of 62.56m in the second round and held the advantage until the final round.
Alabama freshman Hayden Reed then jumped from fourth to first with a throw of 62.74m on his final attempt.
Wruck fouled his last throw to end his pursuit of becoming just the fifth male athlete in Division I history to win three titles.
"I'm quite disappointed," Wruck said.
"If I threw far and lost I would have been fine with it, but to throw poorly and lose, it's just the worst way to do it. Especially in the last round."
The Glasgow Commonwealth Games commence on July 23.
Share
