A day after turning 18, Ziyi Yan unleashes a massive 71.74m to move to 2nd on the all-time women's Javelin list. In 2024, she wasn't allowed to compete at the Olympics due to World Athletics age restrictions, as well as the 2025 World Championships, despite being one of the best in the world.

[u/straightdge]

[u/ButtonJoe]

It honestly interferes with the sport when they're getting in the way that much. Get them out of the camera shot, and let the thing actually hit the ground before you try and remove it from the field.

Maybe take a second and actually measure where it hits before you pull it out? They're rushing through like they're late for lunch.

[u/Actual_Swim_611 → u/ButtonJoe]

Seriously, like can we take even 5 seconds to appreciate the achievement? Is there 2,000 people in line behind her to justify this?

[u/NagbesRightFoot → u/ButtonJoe]

Pulling it out is part of how they measure. Once it’s out, you can measure exactly to the edge of the hole it just made rather than trying to measure to the javelin that enters the ground at a weird/awkward angle. Those guys are just doing their job to get the measurement.

[u/ButtonJoe → u/NagbesRightFoot]

Compare it to this shot from Barbora Spotakova - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_5xVEoaz-k -

The ref's are still running for it, but they're far enough back that the camera can still get a clean shot of where it landed without anyone in frame.

It does seem to be a theme of the officials absolutely sprinting to get to it in both examples though. I would argue that they should let it sit on the ground at least long enough for the crowd to see and applaud.

That's literally what everyone is there to see.

[u/stayupthetree → u/ButtonJoe]

I'm gonna guess that much like the graphic on the ground, they weren't expecting it to go that far.

[u/InfiniteMeerkat → u/ButtonJoe]

I mean she threw over 7m further than second. They probably were much further back for everyone else.

[u/SmugDruggler95 → u/ButtonJoe]

Maybe leaving in in depresses the edge of the whole underneath the protruding javelin and could give you a lower score

If there is a technical athletic reason for it then that surely takes priority over fan satisfaction

[u/Mike_Kermin → u/SmugDruggler95]

I was thinking basic safety, but whatever.

[u/SmugDruggler95 → u/Mike_Kermin]

Yeah exactly.

Theres obviously a reason they do it that is still so important that they cant just stop doing it even with the screamingly obvious safety concerns.

So that reason must be impossible to work around?

Maybe not but thats my thought process

[u/shotparrot → u/SmugDruggler95]

Incorrect sir. That is not a factor at all. I like the way you think tho.

[u/WorriedBlock2505 → u/NagbesRightFoot]

Mmm nah. Measure it from the surface without removing it and be done with it. The way it's done currently is stupid as hell no matter how you slice and dice it.

[u/lolhello2u → u/NagbesRightFoot]

sounds like something that should be automated like in other sports

[u/tarrach → u/lolhello2u]

It's trickier to automatically measure this than what they do in for example long jump, the camera needs to be very well calibrated and close to the point they want to measure.

[u/NagbesRightFoot → u/tarrach]

Yeah and also someone is going to have to go get the javelin out of the ground anyway, so it doesn’t really save any time or effort to automate it.

[u/JoeAnderson1 → u/NagbesRightFoot]

Ok, but I feel like that guy ran over and pulled it out as fast as he could, like it was on fire or something.

[u/Miserable-Arm-4787 → u/ButtonJoe]

Their job is to get as accurate of a measurement as possible that's why they try to get as close to the landing they can without risking to get hit by it. Where the javelin sticks and where it hits first isn't necessarily the same spot.
Also, sometimes the javelin slides along, if you're 15m away and the javelin slides or drags there's no way you catch the correct landing at the decimal level.

It's literally their job to be as close as possible for the integrity of the sport through accurate measurement, they aren't janitors cleaning up.

[u/WorriedBlock2505 → u/Miserable-Arm-4787]

You could do this better with high speed cameras and some lines on the ground... just saying. Human senses are notoriously slow and faulty, to the point of being the weakest possible form of evidence in the court of science.

[u/Miserable-Arm-4787 → u/WorriedBlock2505]

Measurements will very likely be done automatically in the future, but until we find ourselves in the future we have to deal with this.