Media Room
Press ReleasesJune 05, 2008
Jerome Meet Discus Record Poised To Fall
A track and field meet's discus competition may appear to a casual observer as requiring little more than hurling a glorified plate through the air.
But the event, one of the oldest in the Olympic movement as it was contested by the ancient Greeks in their Games, is in fact a complex discipline combining speed, strength and technique. On June 21 the men's discus will be one of the showcase events at the 25th annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium.
"We are going to have the strongest field we have ever had for men's discus," remarked Dr. Doug Clement, chair of meet organizer Achilles International Track and Field Society. "The meet record will no doubt be challenged, if not obliterated, by this group."
Indeed, the meet men's discus meet record of 61.80 metres was set back in 1988 by Canada's Ray Lazdins. Leading the fray to better that 20-year-old mark is 31-year-old American Ian Waltz, whose recent toss of 68.90 metres at Salinas, Calif., ranks seventh on the current International Association of Athletics Federation list for 2008. Waltz, the U.S. champion in 2005 and 2006, has a personal best 68.91 metres earned in 2006.
Joining Waltz on the Jerome entry list is 24-year-old Arkansas thrower Michael Robertson, the 2007 United States outdoor champion, 2005 NCAA champion and 2002 U.S. junior champion. Robertson recently tossed a personal best 65.61 metres.
Jarred Rome, 31, is the third American to bring outstanding credentials to Swangard this year. Rome's personal best 68.44-metre effort earlier this year ranks 11th on the current IAAF 2008 standings. He ended 2007 by finishing sixth in the IAAF World Athletics Final at Stuttgart.
Richmond Kajaks' Dariusz Slowik leads the Canadian contingent in the event. Slowik, bronze medallist at the 2007 Pan-American Games, has a season best 62.89 metres earned recently in California.
Another Jerome meet throwing event, the men's shot put, will also prove interesting on June 21 as defending meet champion and newly-crowned Canadian record holder Dylan Armstrong returns to Swangard Stadium.
The 2007 Jerome meet proved a career breakout event for Kamloops-based Armstrong as he won the men's shot put with a personal best toss of 20.72 metres. That result earned him a trip to the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro where he won the gold medal with a 20.10-metre effort.
From that fine result in Brazil Armstrong, silver medallist in the hammer throw at the 2000 world junior track and field championships, moved on to the IAAF world track and field championships in Japan where he finished an impressive ninth with a throw of 20.23 metres. The outstanding 2007 season earned Armstrong the Athletics Canada F.N.A. Rowell Trophy, presented annually to the year's top Canadian athlete in field events.
But Armstrong, 27, already comes to the 2008 Jerome meet with a new laurel. He recently tossed a personal best and Canadian record 20.92 metres to win the shot put at an international meet in Belgrade. The effort bettered the previous national mark of 20.86 set by Brad Snyder in 2004 and gave Armstrong the Olympic A-plus qualification standard for the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.
Armstrong's return to Swangard signals the Jerome meet shot put record may also be in jeopardy. The existing meet mark is 20.93 metres, just .01 better than Armstrong's best, set by American C.J. Hunter in 1995.
The 25th annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic goes Saturday, June 21 at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. Tickets and meet information are now available through the meet website at www.harryjerome.com.
For media inquiries contact:
Diane Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com or (604) 261-6220
For athlete information contact:
Marek Jedrezejek
marekj@interchange.ubc.ca or (604) 822-6259
or
Doug Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com
