ZURICH: Nadezha Ostapchuk of Belarus was on Wednesday crowned the women`s shot put champion of the season after dominating the penultimate Diamond League event.
Ostapchuk, the European champion, was never tested at the makeshift shot put arena rigged up at Zurich`s main train station, where blaring music and an emcee enticed commuters into the free-to-watch event.
She won with a best putt of 20.63 metres, all her efforts going beyond the 20m mark, and picked up a diamond trophy and cheque for 40,000 dollars for her victory.
Olympic and world champion Valerie Adams-Vili of New Zealand, who has lost all seven encounters with the Belarusian this season, was second with a best of 20.02m.
American champion Jillian Camarena-Williams finished in third after throwing a personal best of 19.50m.
"It was very tough, not so much physically as mentally," Ostapchuk said, adding that she liked the atmosphere at the Hauptbahnhof.
"Definitely," the 2005 world champion said. "I like the fact that the crowd are so close, and I like the music."
In a bid to bring the shot into the limelight, organisers decided to hold both the men`s and women`s event at Zurich`s main train station at peak commuting time, one day ahead of the main meet.
"The shot put is an aesthetic discipline, offering exciting competitions," said meet director Patrick Magyar.
"Unfortunately, it tends not to get the attention it deserves when staged at its traditional stadium location, simply because the action is so far away from the spectators.
"This event allows us to present an extraordinary, high-level athletics show at the most frequented location of Switzerland."
American Christian Cantwell, the US team`s lone men`s field event winner at the 2009 outdoor World Championships in Berlin, won the men`s shot put, with their final outing coming in Brussels next week.
Cantwell managed a best of 21.78m on his fourth effort, overcoming compatriot and early leader Adam Nelson (21.29).
Poland`s Tomas Majewski was in third just one centimetre adrift of Nelson, whose hyped-up pre-putt antics drove the crowd of around 2,000 wild.
BDST: 1322HRS, August 19, 2010
