July 21, 2022 - Croatia's best female athlete, Sandra Perković, won the silver medal in the discus throw at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA, while Croatia's second representative, Marija Tolj, finished eighth. 

Perković was second with a score of 68.45, which is her best throw this season. However, that was still not enough for the gold, surprisingly won by Chinese discus thrower Bin Feng with 69.12, reports HRT.

The bronze was won by the Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo, American Valarie Allman, with 68.30 meters. The defending champion from Doha, Cuban Yaime Perez, ended up seventh with 63.07, while Marija Tolj took eighth place, with 63.07.

It is Sandra's 12th medal at major competitions and the fifth at the world championships, which no other discus thrower in the world has achieved.

In her first world final in Berlin in 2009 as a teenager, she finished in ninth place, just before becoming the European junior champion. She then won gold twice, in Moscow in 2013 and London in 2017, and won two silvers (Beijing 2015, Eugene 2022) and one bronze (Doha 2019). Let's add that the 32-year-old Perković won two Olympic golds (2012, 2016) and has five European titles.

22-year-old Marija Tolj also achieved great success. In her first final at a major senior competition, she was eighth with a throw of 63.07 meters. Tolj recently won gold at the Mediterranean Games in Algeria with a personal record of 64.71 meters.

It started hot. In the first series, Allman threw 67.62 and Sandra 67.74, but Bin Feng shocked everyone with 69.12. With this result, Feng improved her personal record of 66.00 meters by more than three meters.

Perković came close to her in the second series by throwing 68.45, while Allman achieved a result of 68.30 in the third series.

It was expected that to win, Sandra would have to beat the American who came to Eugene with the best result of the season (71.46). She succeeded in this, but no one expected Feng to celebrate, who had achieved her greatest success so far in 2019 by winning the Asian Championships. At the last WC in Doha, she was fifth, and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, she was only 17th.

Unfortunately, Sara Kolak did not make it to the javelin final. The norm was 62.50 meters, but the Olympic winner from Rio de Janeiro did not make a single correct attempt in the qualifications.

It was her third appearance at the world championships. In London in 2017, she was one step away from the podium by winning fourth place, while two years later, in Doha, she was seventh.

The Ludbreg native didn't even have a single correct attempt at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year, and this season she threw the furthest 62.60 in Leiden, the Netherlands.

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July 19, 2022 - Discus queen Sandra Perković and her young Croatia teammate Marija Tolj have qualified for the discus final at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon!

Croatian athletes Sandra Perković and Marija Tolj qualified for the discus final at the World Athletics Championships in the USA! The norm for the final was 64 meters, or the best 12 results, reports HRT. 

Sandra Perković did the job already in the first series of her qualification group, throwing the discus 64.23 meters, so there was no need for the next two attempts. Tolj, on the other hand, entered the finals based on the results of others - in the first series, she threw 61.46 meters, and then had two incorrect attempts.

As the 22-year-old Tolj competed in the first group, she had to wait for the outcome of the competition in the second group in order to break into the top 12. She succeeded and, in the end, took tenth place.

American Valerie Allman had the best qualifying result. The current Olympic champion threw the discus 68.36 meters. In second was Jorinda van Klinken from the Netherlands, who threw 65.66 meters, while the current world champion Cuban Yaime Perez had the third best result of 65.32 meters. Perković was seventh with 64.23 meters, and Tolj was tenth with 61.46 meters.

A total of 30 females competed, and the last, 12th place leading to the final, was won by Frenchwoman Melina Robert-Michon with 61.21 meters.

Sandra Perković has so far won two gold medals (2013, 2017), one silver (2015), and one bronze (2019) at the world championships, and this season she threw the furthest - 68.19 meters. Only American Allman (71.46) threw further than her this year.

Marija Tolj arrived in Eugene in excellent form, having recently won gold at the Mediterranean Games in Oran with a personal record of 64.71 meters. Let's add that in Eugene, she won her first final at a major senior competition (Olympics, World Champs, European Champs).

The women's discus final is scheduled for early Thursday morning Croatian time.

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July 31, 2021 - Croatian athlete and Discus Queen Sandra Perković set the best result of the A group of discus qualifications at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and the third overall to place in the final, which is scheduled for Monday. The second Croatian representative, Marija Tolj, missed the final by four centimeters.

Discus Queen Sandra Perković is looking for her third consecutive Olympic title in Tokyo after London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016. With a throw of 63.75 meters, Sandra was third overall in the qualifiers. The best was the American Valarie Allman with 66.42 meters, while Indian Kamalpreet Kaur was second with 63.97, reports HRT.

Sandra already threw. 63.75 meters in the opening, which was only 25 centimeters shorter than the qualifying norm. The Croatian champion was in an excellent mood at the Olympic Stadium; she even danced after her successful throw. However, she had faulty shots in the second series and the third.

"I am happy that I threw almost to the norm in the first shot. I thought it was probably 64 meters, and that's why I danced, but it's still enough. The circle is slippery and not exactly what suits me; I hate them the most because I'm not a savage but a technician. But, I'm so ready I could throw on the ice. The other two shots were underhand," said Sandra, who also complained about the organization.

"It's awful. 130 people train on just one lap in just an hour and a half. So I threw only seven shots in training, and in normal conditions, I throw about a hundred shots. And they didn't even let me into the stadium for the first few days due to quarantine. We complained, of course, that they did not satisfy us. And Americans go to training every day, the four of them go to a special area and have all the time in the world. But it doesn’t matter. I will wait until Monday night," said Sandra, who is awaiting her third Olympic final and hunt for her third consecutive Olympic gold on Monday.

German Kristin Pudenz threw only two centimeters less than Sandra in Group A, while Dutch Jorinde van Klinken threw 61.15, taking 14th place, leaving her without the final in which the 12 best were placed. A big surprise is the terrible performance of Cuban Deina Caballero, who was only 23rd with 57.96.

"Van Klinken threw 70 meters without any problems, and there is barely 61. I am sorry for Caballero; I love her, even though she took my title in 2015. These are the qualifications; I do not want to fail anyone. It is easier to throw at a rally in Pusca Gora than to throw at this huge and empty stadium at the Olympic Games," said Sandra.

Unfortunately, no other Croatian representative in the final after Marija Tolj took the unfortunate 13th place. With 61.48 cm, she was only four centimeters behind the 12th Brazilian Isabel da Silva. In her first Olympic appearance, Orebić threw 54.76, in the second 61.48, while the third shot went to 60.63 meters.

"I am not disappointed; I am satisfied because I threw over 60 meters at my first Olympic Games. A little trepidation took my toll on the first shot, but I’m happy with 61.48 in the second. I didn’t miss the audience because I love when there’s no one; I’m that type. So everything is fine for me; the only thing is that I managed to break the cardboard bed in the Olympic Village, it tilted to one side, so I had to collect it. Yes, I am alone in the room," 21-year-old Tolj said with calm and, apparently, not at all disappointed.

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