Chinese upsets the odds with massive personal best as Perković and Allman miss out on world title

China’s Feng Bin produced a huge upset in the women’s discus competition at the World Championships in Eugene to defeat two-time Olympic and world champion Sandra Perković of Croatia and the American favourite, Olympic gold medallist Valarie Allman.

Until the final at Hayward Field, the furthest the 28-year-old 2019 Asian champion had ever thrown was 66.00m. She was 16^th in the world when it came to her distances this year.

And yet, with her first effort of the evening, she went sailing past her previous best to reach 69.12m, immediately putting her rivals on the back foot.

Perković, who had opened with 67.74m to overtake early leader Allman’s 67.62m, responded to Bin in round two to close the gap with 68.45m while Allman, who had opened with 67.62m, got out to 68.30m in round three.

That would be the closest this illustrious duo would get to the gold, however. Bin’s next best throw of the night was a third-round effort of 66.89m but her work of the evening had really been done right at the start of the competition. “I just wanted to show my best,” she said.

For Perković, this was her fifth consecutive World Championships medal and the 32-year-old insisted she has no plans to retire any time soon.

“Standing on the podium means a lot to me,” she said. “I did not expect the Chinese girl would beat us all but I am also glad for her because she threw a huge PB and I think you just have to be lucky. I will continue next year [for the World Championships] in Budapest. This event is just the love of my life and I enjoy every moment of it.”

The world-leading Allman, who threw a massive 71.46m earlier this year, did create history by picking up the USA’s first ever World Championships medal in this event. That might have been a source of some pride but it was clear that the 27-year-old had been focused on it being a different colour.

“Truly, it is bittersweet,” she said. “We have spent so much time preparing for this competition. I feel like the season has been defining my self-confidence. I was ready to compete for gold again but I just could not find that big throw. It is good to walk out with a medal but I am definitely ready to compete again next summer in Hungary and go for the world title. Hopefully this will lead to the new exciting things.”