While the temperature rises quickly in the national stadium of Japan, Van Klinken only needs one throw to qualify for Sunday’s final. In her first attempt, she comes to 66.39 meters, well above the qualification limit of 64.00 meters.
Van Klinken has every reason to be optimistic about its medal opportunities. She recently became second at the Diamond League final with a distance of 67.15 meters. “I wasn’t really happy with that yet,” says Van Klinken in Tokyo about that distance. ,, I am in a form the whole season that I have not yet seen in the distances. I just think I’m in the top form here. I have never achieved 66 meters in my first throw. So that’s a good sign. “
Van Klinken even thinks Valarie Allman, the Olympic champion who has been unbeaten for two years, thinks he can threaten. ,, The best strategy for that is if you throw very far in the first throw. As far as I know, she is not the strongest mentally and she does not necessarily expect that she will have a big challenger here. “
The Dutch medal candidate is clearly all about her plan in Tokyo. ,, I really set very high goals for myself. I think it was really successful when my distance starts with the 7 (so above 70 meters ed.). And I am very disappointed when I walk away here without a medal. “
She says she is not bothered by the heat: ,, I have to say that I like the heat. I am also quite curious how it goes when it starts raining. That chance is quite big, because it is raining here on average twenty days in September. We do have a good plan for that. But I have to keep that plan secret because otherwise the opponents might be able to do something with that. “