Heartbreak for Tori Peeters as she misses world athletics javelin final by one spot

It was heartbreak in Hungary for Kiwi javelin thrower Tori Peeters on Wednesday night (NZT) as she missed out on a spot in her event final at the world athletics championships by a solitary spot, and just 7cm.

Peeters finished an agonising 13th in qualifying on the morning session of day five of the championships in Budapest, with the top 12 progressing to the final. Her best toss of 59.59 metres ended up just 7cm shy of the 59.66m recorded by final qualifier, and defending world champion, Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia.

The Kiwi’s top throw came on her second attempt and at the end of the round she sat in the 12th, and last, qualification berth in the battle to reach Saturday’s final. Earlier Peeters, who bettered her national record with a 63.26m throw in Yokohama in May, had opened with a 57.95m.

However, while the 29-year-old New Zealander could not better her position with a third-round throw of 54.46m, deep into the final round Brazilian Jucilene Sales De Lima hurled the spear out to 59.76m to relegate the Cambridge-based thrower to 13th.

No female New Zealander has ever reached a global (Olympics or world championships) javelin final. Lina Muze-Sirma of Latvia topped the qualifiers with a best of 63.50m.

The other competing Kiwi in the session, Georgia Hulls, exited the opening round of the women’s 200m after placing fifth in her heat in 23.36 seconds (-0.4). It was the Auckland-based sprinter’s fifth fastest legitimate mark of her career, but no match for Julien Alfred of St Lucia, who won with 22.31sec, with Jamaica’s Natalliah Whyte (22.44) and Bianca Williams of Great Britain (22.67) banking the other automatic qualification spots.

Hulls, who ran a blistering 200m PB of 22.84 in Christchurch in February, said: “I have a lot of thoughts and emotions. While I am grateful and happy to be here, I did not come here to just be here. I’m both proud and heartbroken.”

World 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson topped the qualifiers from the first round of the women’s 200m, cruising to a heat two victory in 22.16.

Timaru’s Lauren Bruce is the only Kiwi featuring in the second session on day five in the women’s hammer qualification.