|
A feature of Jan Zelezny's 1996 season had been the fact that he had
thrown the javelin over 90 metres on six occasions in the early part of
the year but had been unable to exceed that distance in the latter part
of the season, although he still maintained sufficient competitive
advantage over his rivals to successfully defend his Olympic title.
Zelezny started the 1997 season in similar fashion, surpassing 90 metres
twice in an early season visit to South Africa, firstly throwing 94.02m
at Stellenbosch on 26 March, and then 91.34m at Cape Town on 8 April.
He also threw 92.42m at Ostrava on 28 May, and although he did not
exceed 90 metres again that season, his poor performance at the World
Championships in Athens later that year came as quite a shock. Zelezny
fouled his first two throws at Athens, and his third throw of 82.04m
only placed him in ninth place, excluding him from an additional three
throws.
Despite this disappointment, Jan came back strongly to record a
victory at the Grand Prix final at Fukuoka on 13 September, with a
throw of 89.58m. Zelezny sustained a serious injury to his right
shoulder while training in April 1998, which eventually led to surgery
and him missing the entire 1998 season. The injury occurred in Jan's
throwing arm and there was speculation that he might never compete
again, but he made a successful return in 1999, with a season's best of
89.06m, which he reached when winning a Grand Prix event at Paris on 21
July.
He also showed that the competitive spirit was still very much
alive when he won the bronze medal behind Aki Parviainen (Finland) at
the World Championships in Seville with a best throw of 87.67m, and then
finished second in the Grand Prix final at Munich on 11 September. (Ron Casey)
|