Sophia Rivera will become the first athlete in IAAF history to compete in two simultaneous field event finals this evening as she goes for gold in both the javelin and shot put at the IAAF World Youth Championships.
No athlete at any level, including Senior, Junior and Youth, has ever attempted to compete in two field events simultaneously, according to IAAF officials.
"It's definitely gonna be a challenge, but one I'm looking forward to," she said in an interview with NSAF. "And there's definitely no other stage like this to be performing in both events at such a high level.
"I guess it seemed more like an adventure, because if I could try both, why not?"
In last night's javelin prelims, Rivera threw for 171-3.5* to advance to the finals as No. 2 overall. The top competitor after round one is Stella Weinberg of Norway, who threw for 175-4.75.
This morning, the Brentwood, Missouri rising senior qualified for the shot put finals with a mark of 16.51m (54-2)**. She placed third in Group 'A' to earn an auto advance spot and was thus faced with a tough decision, albeit, one she has made before.
Rivera won both the shot put and the javelin at the Kansas Relays this year while competing in both simultaneously.
She plans to go for a big mark on her first attempts in both events, then pass the second attempt and hope that her mark is good enough to advance to the final final.
The Women's Shot Put Finals begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Women's Javelin Throw begins at 7:35 p.m.
Watch the NSAF interview with Sophia about tonight's competitions here.
*The World Youth javelin weighs 500kg, which is slightly lighter than the standard high school implement size of 600kg.
**The World Youth shot put weighs 5kg, compared to the standard high school implement size of 4kg.
