Athletics: Vili tipped to win in Stuttgart

Valerie Vili

New Zealand's Valerie Vili is the hot tip to win the women's shot put at this weekend's fourth IAAF world athletics final in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Auckland thrower has hit a rich vein of form, having fired a 20.20m throw at a meeting in Germany nine days ago to follow a 19.83m effort in Austria the week before.

The 20.20m equalled her national and Oceania record set seven months ago at the national championships in Christchurch.

Standing in Vili's way on Monday morning (NZT) are Belarussians Natallia Khoroneko and Nadezhda Ostapchuk, Germany's Petra Lammert and Cuban Yumileidi Cumba, the 2004 Olympic champion.

But after being shaded by Vili at the Intersport Gugl meeting in Linz, Austria, her rivals will be worried.

The Commonwealth Games champion strung an impressive series together -- 19.47m, 19.33m, 19.83m, 19.37m, 19.22m and 19.59m -- on the way to beating Khoroneko, second with 19.42m, and Cumba, third with 18.92m.

Khoroneko, the reigning world indoor and European champion, hit a personal best of 20.17m on September 1 in Padova, Italy.

Ostapchuk has recorded seven career throws over 20m and has twice thrown over 21m. Her season's biggest throw is 20.56m achieved in Minsk in July.

However, Ostapchuk's recent form hasn't impressed. She was a distant fifth with an 18.34m throw at Linz.

Khoroneko has been in solid form all year, winning all but two of her seven competitions outdoors while Cumba has won all but one of her 11 competitions. She threw her season's best of 19.66m in late May.

"She hasn't competed much, but when she has, New Zealand's Valerie Vili has been unstoppable," analyst Bob Ramsak wrote in his preview of the women's shot put on the IAAF's website.

"Undefeated in five competitions this year, Vili will arrive in Stuttgart in a solid position to move up a notch from her runner-up finish (to Ostapchuk) last year (in Monaco).

"From her 20.20m Oceania record in January, to her recent 19.83m win in Linz, the Kiwi has shown impeccable form throughout the calendar year."

The winners of each event in Stuttgart will take home US$30,000 ($47,103) while second will earn US$20,000 and third US$12,000.

A world record is worth US$100,000.

The world record of 22.63m was set in 1987 by Natalya Lisovskaya of the Soviet Union.

After Stuttgart, Vili heads for the World Cup in Athens on September 16-17, where she joins a number of New Zealanders competing for the Oceania team.

- NZPA