Four throws into the final and Tero Pitkämäki took the early lead. Five throws later Vítězslav Veselý threw the winner 87.17. Two more throws and Roman Avramenko was sitting in third place after the first round. In the second round Pitkämäki improved, followed by world leader Dmitriy Tarabin taking over third place. Veselý's remaining throws wouldn't be enough to place in the top four. Pitkämäki improved again on his third attempt, falling just 10 cm short of Veselý. That mark would be good enough for silver.
At the same time as Kenyan women were in their customary position battling the Ethiopians in the women's 5000, Julius Yego's fifth round throw of 85.40 was a Kenyan national record, but more importantly, Kenya's first field event finalist was in third place in the world championships, with only one throw to go. Throwing before the home crowd, Tarabin's final effort of 86.23 took third place back for good, dashing Yego's hope for a medal.[2]
Records
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:[3]
