Russian discus thrower Darya Pishchalnikova achieved the best throw in the world this year on Thursday, hurling 70.69 meters to win the Russian national championships.
Pishchalnikova's throw in the meet in Cheboskary, 650 kilometers east of Moscow, is nearly two centimeters clear of Nadine Muller's effort at the European Cup in Bar, Montenegro, in March.
With it, the 26 year old qualifies for Russia's Olympic team for the London Games and becomes one of the leading contenders for gold.
"I don't know how it will be at the Olympics to compete as the season's leader, it hasn't even sunk it, to be honest, that I have the best result of the season," Pishchalnikova said.
"No one has gone over 70 meters in recent times," she said. "Of course, there is still room for improvement," she added, noting Gabriele Reinsch's world record of 76.80 was in her sights.
Pishchalnikova's best-ever result is gold in the European championships in Gothenburg in 2006.
She came 11th at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea, with a throw of 58.10 meters.
Muller of Germany won the competition with 65.54 meters ahead of Li Yanfeng of China (64.44m) and Cuba's Yaerlis Barrios 63.80m.
