#BEIJING2015: Dacres did not expect to throw 65.77m
KINGSTON, Jamaica – National champion Fedrick Dacres is feeling great after landing 65.77m in the discus throw at the 15th IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, although he did not expect to throw that distance on his first attempt.@ObserverLive.
He is now in pole position for the event’s final, which gets under way on Saturday at 6:50 am (Jamaica local time) when he will compete against 11 other athletes for a medal position.
“I am not really a big starter, that’s the thing. And I expected to get maybe a 63.00 and I know I would build on that significantly. But I never expected it to go that far,”Dacres said after his massive throw in group A, which automatically took him into the final line-up on just one attempt.
“So that shows the kind of shape I am in,” Dacres reasoned.
The Pan American champion was the only Jamaican to advance, after Chad Wright and Jason Morgan failed to make the qualifying 65.00m mark. Wright and Morgan were in group B of the qualification round and they threw 61.53 and 60.85, respectively.
Their recorded distances were not enough to land them among the 12 best performers of the two groups.
Wright said he just could not find what he needed to deliver.
“The series didn’t start out so well,” he said. “I picked up speed after the second throw, but I just couldn’t find it today.”
Meanwhile, Morgan is already looking forward to next year.
“It’s all good. I am thankful for how far I have come despite all the challenges, the struggles. Next year should be a good year,” Morgan said.
For blow-by-blow coverage of the 15th IAAF World Championships from #Beijing2015 follow