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After having produced his first 21-metre shot put in 1990, Oliver-Sven
Buder did not reach that distance again until the 1997 World
Championships, where he won the silver medal with a throw of 21.24m.
Having successfully reacquainted himself with that distance, Buder
embarked on a virtual 21-metre throwing spree during the 1998 indoor
season. At Erfurt, on 4 February, five of his six throws, including his
longest of 21.16m, were over 21 metres. He exceeded that barrier again
at two other meets on 14 and 21 February, before producing a massive
throw of 21.47m to win the European Indoor title at Valencia on 28
February. Buder did not better 21 metres in the outdoor season, but as
he had done on many previous occasions, he produced his best effort at
the right time, finishing second behind Aleksandr Bagach (Ukraine) at
the European Championships in Budapest with his season's best throw of
20.98m.
At the 1999 World Championships in Seville, held on 21 August,
Buder (see photo above) took the lead in round two with a throw
of 21.03m. He held that lead through round three, and then exploded
with a huge throw in round four to record his lifetime personal best of
21.42m, although it was slightly shorter than his indoor best of 21.47m.
It seemed that Buder was finally going to win at a major international
championships when his 21.42m throw was still well clear of the field
after the completion of round five, until C. J. Hunter (USA), nabbed the
gold medal from Oliver-Sven with his final throw of 21.79m. By 2000,
age appeared to be finally catching up with Buder, although he still
managed to finish 8th at that year's Olympic Games. However, he failed
to qualify for the final at the following year's World Championships in
Edmonton. (Ron Casey)
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