It wasn’t enough to make it all the way from qualifying and trials for hammer thrower Ragnar Carlsson, it became clear after nervously waiting for the second qualifying group. “There were many who underperformed, but that can happen at an Olympics,” said Ragnar after the qualifying competition.
Athletics took the step into the Stade de France on Friday morning and already during the first session the stands were almost full and three Swedes got a direct taste of the French Olympic atmosphere.
First out was Ragnar Carlsson in the stroke play. The qualifying limit was set at 77.00, a length that Ragnar has thrown once during the season, when at the end of April he threw his personal record of 77.75. Twelve throwers would advance to the final and there were two qualifying groups, of which Ragnar threw in the first.
In Ragnar’s first throw, the hammer landed at 72.72 and his first Olympic throw was completed and approved. In the second throw he increased to 73.96 and was in sixth place before the last throw. However, he failed to improve, the hammer landing at 73.94, and he had to pin his hopes on not being overturned by too many throwers in the second qualifying group.
– We’ll see, it probably takes a lot. There are more people than me who are nervous now, says Ragnar Carlsson after the competition.
– There were many who underperformed, but it can be like that at an Olympics, there can be quite low qualifying results.
There was a long and nervous wait while the second qualifying group threw. It was incredibly close that Ragnar made it through to the final, but in the end there were too many throwers who got past him in the results list in the last round and he finished in fifteenth place. To reach the final, 75.25 was required.
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