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KAWASAKI: Athens Olympic gold medallist Koji Murofushi of Japan won the hammer throw with his last attempt at the Kawasaki track and field meet on Tuesday.

Murofushi, who finished fifth at the Beijing Olympics in August, threw 81.02 metres to beat Krisztian Pars of Hungary. Beijing Olympic champion Primoz Kozmus of Slovenia was a disappointing third with 78.59 metres.

“It was a very good throw. I’m really glad that I was able to mark such a good record with my last throw in my last competition of the season,” said Murofushi. “I couldn’t practise well because of a cold so I think this is the result I achieved with my technique. It was a good competition and I’m looking forward to the next season.” Meanwhile, Nobuharu Asahara, who anchored the Japanese team to win the 4x100m relay bronze in Beijing, put an end to his career with a third-place finish in 10.37 secs. The 100 metre race was won by Harry Aikines-Aryeetey of Britain in 10.19, followed by Michael Rodgers of the United States in 10.26.

“I competed for more than 20 years. A great part of my life was to run. It’s great to finish my career by receiving a medal as a present at the end,” said Asahara, now aged 36.

Other Beijing Olympic champions duly won their events, with Tomasz Majewski of Poland winning the men’s shot put with 19.63m and Tatiana Lebedeva of Russia winning the women’s long jump with 6.81m. In the women’s 100m, Chisato Fukushima brought the title home for the first time for Japan by clocking 11.70 secs, beating American Candice Davis into second. The 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson of the United States coasted to an easy victory in the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.33 secs, while 2007 world champion Donald Thomas of Bahamas won the men’s high jump with 2.24m.

from: dailytimes.com.pk