Veteran throwers seek to beat Walcott at Bislett

Both Norway’s own Andreas Thorkildsen and Finnish Tero Pitkämäki is determined to reclaim the throne as the best javelin thrower in the world. They see Thursday’s meet as a golden opportunity to get closer to that reality, when they face 2012 London Olympic gold-medalist Keshorn Walcott in what promises to be a thriller.

The 20-year-old Trinidadian javelin thrower Walcott has won more gold medals than the two veterans combined acknowledges the posing threat from the two challengers sitting beside him at Wednesday’s press conference in Oslo

"I’m sitting between two athletes that have done extremely well during the last years. I’m the baby here," he said.

Thorkildsen and Pitkämäki have struggled to to get satisfying results lately. Now they both claim to be back in great shape.

"I’m really excited about Tero coming back. This is our comeback year and we want the same for the season," said Thorkildsen, "and for me it would be great to get a personal best at home again".

"I haven’t done as much training as before, but my shape has improved and I feel confident and healthy," Pitkämäki said. "My main goal this season is a 90-meter-throw and a gold medal in Moscow."
Thursday evening’s Bislett Games will be a great preview for the IAAF Moscow World Championships later this year.

Personal best overview:
Thorkildsen 91.59m (2006)
Pitkämäki 91.53m (2005)
Walcott 84.58m (2012)