Aug. 13, 2009

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Former Tiger track & field standout Christian Cantwell will be competing for a gold medal this Saturday at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Berlin, Germany. The 2009 US shot put champion will face the best throwers from around the world at the event. The qualifying rounds are at 3:05 a.m. (CT) and the finals take place at 1:15 p.m. (CT).

The 2008 Olympic silver-medalist feels good about his chances of performing well heading into the meet. Cantwell is coming off of a successful outdoor season that has included plenty of rest. His last competition was three weeks ago at the Aviva London Grand Prix where he defeated both the 2008 Olympic gold medalist - Tomasz Majewski - and 2007 World Champion Reese Hoffa with a season-best throw of 21.81m (71-7).

"Christian's preparations continue to go well," said Brett Halter, associate head coach at Mizzou and Cantwell's coach. "We had our last technical session on Monday, state side. Following travel Tuesday and Wednesday, Christian will have a short tune-up session on Thursday in Berlin. He will then rest Friday and begin competition on Saturday. Christian's power indices are through the roof, his central nervous system is sharp, his technique is in championship form and his attitude is great."

The world championships are not a new scene for Cantwell. In addition to getting silver at last year's Olympics in Beijing, Cantwell won the world indoor championships in both 2004 and 2008. He is one of only two shot putters to ever win the world championships twice. He is now hoping to add his first outdoor title to the list.

Television coverage will be provided Saturday on NBC from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm (CT). Live results will be posted at http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/index.html.