DUSHANBE, August 29, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik athlete Dilshod Nazarov (men’s hummer throwing) has qualified for the finals in the opening day of the 13th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Championships underway in Daegou, South Korea, through September 4.

“Nazarov finished fourth in the preliminary competition, making a 76.93 meter throw (the qualification mark is 77.00 meters) and securing a place in the competition’s finals scheduled for today,” Yevgeniy Shumarin, Secretary General of Tajikistan’s Athletics Federation, told Asia-Plus in an interview on August 29.

In the meantime, Vlada Ovcharenko (women’s 100m) has failed to qualify for the finals of the 13th IAAF Championships.  She finished only 7th in the seventh round, Shumarin said.

Dilshod Nazarov (born 6 May 1982) is an internationally known Tajik athlete who specializes in the hammer throw.  He has represented Tajikistan at the Olympic Games on two occasions (in 2004 and 2008).  He has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics, but has been most successful at regional competitions: he won medals at four consecutive Asian Athletics Championships and was the hammer champion at the 2006 Asian Games.  He won his first global medal (silver) in 2010 at the IAAF Continental Cup.

According to IAAF’s website, the 13th edition of the IAAF World Championships is the biggest sports event on the planet in 2011, with over 200 teams and 2000 athletes from the IAAF''s national Member Federations taking part in nine days of what is exciting and entertaining competition.