BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kokhan, the favorite to win the gold medal in the men's hammer throw, met the high expectations placed on him and nailed a 85.97-meter throw in the first stage and a 85.14-meter throw in the second on Monday to claim the gold medal in the event at the Youth Olympics.
Belarus' Valentin Andreev won the silver and China's Wang Qi the bronze. Although the Ukrainian's throw was two meters short of his personal best, it was still good enough for him to take the top spot in Buenos Aires.
"It was a very good competition to put an end to a long season," the 17-year-old said. Ukraine is a growing power in the discipline. Four years ago at Nanjing 2014, the country also won the gold in men's hammer throw thanks to Hlib Piskunov, who was just 15 years old at the time.
"I have wanted to compete in an edition of the Olympic Games since I was a child. I can rest now," Kokhan said. The young Ukrainian also won the European Championship held in Hungary in July.
His father and coach, Serhii Kokhan, knows that his son's career is just beginning. "He is a very young athlete. We don't want to pressure him, but if he has the results to make it to Tokyo 2020, we will train him for that," he said.
