| Dani's style has boffins in a spin |
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DANIEL LANE The Sun Herald April 14, 2010 A BIOMECHANICAL anomaly is the reason for world champion discus thrower Dani Samuels's success, according to scientists in Germany. They have discovered that unlike other throwers who pause as they shift their weight before launching the discus, Samuels accelerates. The study showed she also has the fastest arm. "When you look at Dani she's only 21 and throwing [nearly] 66 metres and you can't help but ask 'Where do you go to from here?'," her coach, Dennis Knowles, said. "To the naked eye you see the things that are happening such as she's very quick at the centre of the [throwing] circle and her right foot turns rapidly. But it's from studying data such as the Germans' that you can see why her foot turns so rapidly and why her throwing arm is faster than any female thrower." The analysis does not measure the depth of Samuels's ability to challenge herself - as she will in today's discus final at the national championships in Perth. Last year, before the world championships, Athletics Australia flew Beijing Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton and three other Americans to challenge Samuels. She left them, as well as three Chinese women, in her wake. "It has been tough not having the four Americans and the Chinese out here this year," she said. In the four major meetings Samuels has contested this year, her distances - including a best of 65.84m - would have won gold at the Beijing Olympics. "I'm looking forward to throwing 64m at the nationals and getting another win under my belt," she said. |