BIRMINGHAM, UK — Reigning Olympic Thomas Rohler of Germany headlines a star-studded men’s Javelin Throw field for the 2019 Muller Grand Prix Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League meeting on Sunday 18 August.
Rohler, who sits at number three on the all-time list in this event, heads to Birmingham with a season’s best of 86.99m and he leads a line-up that includes four German throwers, the current world-leader and the Asian record holder.
The 27-year-old is the reigning European champion and finished fourth at last year’s Muller Grand Prix Diamond League meeting.
World champion Johannes Vetter of Germany, who is number two all-time with his lifetime best of 94.44m and lies only behind world record holder Jan Zelezny, will also line-up in Birmingham.
Vetter, 26, has had a relatively slow start to the season and he will be hoping to improve on his seasonal best of 85.27m as he continues his preparation ahead of defending his title in Doha in September.
Included on the starting sheet as well is the world-leader Magnus Kirt of Estonia who has twice thrown over 90-meters and holds the best mark this campaign with 90.61m.
This mark is also a national record and new personal best for Kirt, who is the European bronze medalist.
In-form Andreas Hoffman of Germany who is second in the world this year with a mark of 89.65m and countryman Bernhard Seifert, who sits 8th on the world list for 2019, will also join the field.
Elsewhere, Cheng Chao-tsun of Taiwanese, the current Asian record holder, having destroyed the previous record in 2017 with a throw of 91.36m, is among the top five throwers this year and he too will be confident about coming out on top in Birmingham.
Joining the world-class field as well are Jakub Vadlejch, the Czech star thrower and silver medalist at the World Championships two-years-ago and Poland’s Marcin Krukowski, a finalist at the last world championships in 2017.