Israelis fall short of finals at Beijing

Women's javelin competitor Marharyta Dorozhon came nowhere near her personal best and could only manage a 16th-place finish.

By ALLON SINAI
Updated: AUGUST 30, 2015 01:32
Marharyta Dorozhon (photo credit: REUTERS)
Marharyta Dorozhon
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The athletics world championships will come to a close on Sunday, but Israel’s representatives in the event already ended their participation on Friday after Marharyta Dorozhon and Dmitry Kroyter both failed to reach their respective finals in Beijing.
Dorozhon, who became an Israeli citizen last year when she married former 800m runner and current track coach Alex Bugoslavsky, was expected to reach the women’s javelin final, but she came nowhere near her personal best and could only manage a 16th-place finish in Friday’s qualifiers, recording 61.04 meters with her best attempt.
Dorozhon had set a new personal best and national record of 64.56m to win the javelin competition at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo in June and a result of 62.22m would have been good enough to reach the final in Beijing.
“This has been a very long season and I’m not used to it yet,” said Dorozhon. “In addition, I also moved to a new country and I’m adjusting to a new coach and new training facilities. Those all had an effect on me."
“It was a great honor and responsibility to represent Israel on the biggest stage and there’s no doubt that also added to the nerves. I’m sure that this experience will help me and that as I adjust to the new conditions the results will follow.”
Kroyter could have advanced to the high jump final had he equaled his personal best of 2.29m set earlier this month, but he could only clear 2.22m on Friday, good enough for 33rd place.
“The past month has been wonderful,” said Kroyter, who has also already booked his place at next summer’s Rio Olympics. “This is a slightly bitter ending to the season, but that is okay because that will help me next season. I was given a lesson today regarding the level of competition at the top and I’ll start next season very motivated.”