Kanter ready to rule again at the European Cup Winter Throwing

Estonia's reigning Olympic Discus champion Gerd Kanter will be looking to pick up at the European Cup Winter Throwing event this Saturday and Sunday, where his compatriots left off at the European Athletics Indoor Championships last weekend.
Mikk Pahapill and Ksenjia Balta won the men's Heptathlon and women's Long Jump for Estonia in Torino, a great achievement for the small Baltic country with a population of only around 1.4 million.

"Many congratulations to Mikk and Ksenjia, now it's my turn," joked Kanter, who will start his year at the event in Los Realejos on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Last year Kanter threw 65.25m in the 8th edition of the European Cup Winter Throwing, when it was held in the Croatian city of Split, one of 16 victories in a phenomenal year which also included triumphs in Beijing and at the World Athletics Final.

Kanter is, to use an appropriate metaphor, the star turn in the men's Discus but there is a good supporting cast to keep him on his toes, including Spain's Frank Casañas, Russia's Bogdan Pischalnikov and The Netherlands' Rutger Smith, who finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively at the Olympics last summer.

The men's Discus forms just one element of a huge throwing festival this weekend with over 240 athletes from 31 countries expected to be in action. All four throwing disciplines will be contested by men and women, both at senior and under-23 level.

On the women's side, the Hammer could be the highlight event with Belarus's Daryia Pchelnik, France's Manuela Montebrun and Italy's Clarissa Claretti - fourth, fifth and seventh at the Olympics - gracing a competition almost worthy of the European Athletics Championships itself. Germany's 2007 World champion Betty Heidler, and another Olympic finalist, is also in the competition along with Romania's former European and World champion Mihaela Melinte, who set eight world records in the event in the 1990s.

The men's hammer has excellent depth as well and the 22-man field can boast of six men who have thrown further than 80 metres, with Hungary's Olympic silver medallist Krisztian Pars the leading name.

Pars will be aiming to reverse last year's surprise loss to Italy's Marco Lingua, who is also throwing in Los Realejos.

The women's Javelin competition has also attracted an Olympic silver medallist in the shape of Mariya Abakumova, from Russia, who should be in a class of her own on paper although Spain's Beijing finalist Mercedes Chilla will have the crowd behind her.

Six men have thrown over 80 metres in the men's Javelin with Belarus's Aliaksandr Ashomka leading the way with the top entrant 84.27m.

Belarus have also sent their powerhouse Shot Putter Nadezhda Ostapchuk, who has won medal at the European Athletics Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games over the last three seasons.

Ostapchuk has thrown more than a metre further than any other woman in the field but her closest opponent could be Russia's Anna Omarova, who was an Olympic finalist and also won the 2007 SPAR European Cup.

In the men's shot, a lot of interest will be focussed on seeing what France's Yves Niaré can do outdoors after his exploits a week ago under cover in Torino, when he exploded out to a French indoor record 20.42m in the final round to get the European Athletics Indoor Championships silver medal.

However, the 31-year-old Niaré could have his work cut out to finish so high two weeks in a row as the packed competition includes Belarus's experienced Yuriy Belov and The Netherlands's Rutger Smith. Both men made the Olympic final in Beijing and know what it is like to throw over 21 metres.

Into the bargain, there is also Spain's popular Manuel Martinez, a former European Indoor champion and SPAR European Cup winner, which will ensure plenty of attention is given to what is happening in the shot circle.

There is also a classy 20-strong field in the women's Discus, who will be hoping for warm winds coming off the Atlantic to loft their implements to long distances, with Romania's evergreen 37-year-old Nicoleta Grasu to the fore.

Grasu, twice a World Championships medallist and also the 1998 and 2006 European Athletics Championships bronze medallist, continues to impress and show that discus throwers mature with age like good wine.

Last summer, Beijing was her fifth Olympics appearance and she made the final for the third time. Fighting with Grasu for supremacy will be another Beijing finalist, France's Melina Robert-Michon.