Vanessa Kamga broke a Swedish record in the discus qualification and continued to show great form in the final. She threw her longest throw in the first round, a throw that earned her fifth place in the final: “I feel like this is where I want to be and I feel like I’m good at my thing,” she says.
Vanessa Kamga needed just one throw to advance from qualifying to final in his first Olympics. She entered the ring in the qualifier and put a huge amount of power behind the discus which flew 65.14, a new Swedish record and a direct ticket to Monday night’s final.
Vanessa threw tenth in the final and in the first throw the discus flew very close to her Swedish record and landed in 65.05 which put her in the lead early in the competition. She was then upended by the Chinese Feng and the American Allman in the second round.
Vanessa’s second throw was a miss and an overstep. There was also no increase in the third round, but there was also an overrun.
Before the fourth round, she was in fourth place and she had to throw all six final throws.
A throw of 62.32 and a failed throw followed before it was time for the sixth and final round. When it was her turn, it was clear that she would be at worst fifth in the Olympic final. Vanessa’s last throw was a cross in the protocol, but Vanessa Kamga was able to leave the Stade de France in fifth place at the Olympics.
– I entered as twelfth and leave as fifth. I love that I’m doing this again, I did it at the European Championships in Rome where I entered 15th and came fifth, then it happened as it did, and in Budapest I think I was 31st and came 13th. It is what I take with me the most, that I raise myself. Now I even got hold of the medals in a few rounds, so it was fun, says a happy Vanessa Kamga.
The key to being the best when it comes down to it, for Vanessa, is that she loves to compete and is uplifted by the atmosphere in the arena.
– I feel that this is where I want to be and I feel that I am good at what I do. And there’s not an empty chair out there, people are standing in the aisles and it’s really packed. Very, very fun.
Now the Olympics are over for Vanessa for this time, but she is obviously already looking forward to more championships with even greater success:
– I feel that “why shouldn’t I be able to win a medal?”. That’s how I felt out there today as well and I’m at my absolute maximum level, I set a Swedish record in the qualifier, so I feel really strengthened by that. It’s dangerous with blue-yellow out on the tracks today.
Winning was a superior Valerie Allman of the USA in 69.50, the silver went to China’s Bin Feng in 67.51 and the bronze to the veteran Sandra Elkasevic of Croatia who also threw 67.51 as the longest.
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Read more about Olympic athletics in our Olympic guide.
On them Olympic Games website you will find a schedule where you can see start lists and results.
