Slovenian discus thrower Kristjan Čeh won silver at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 22 August, having to concede the title to Swede Daniel Stahl in a dramatic final series.

Stahl, the Olympic champion, was out of medal positions in the first three series, but took the lead in the penultimate round with 69.37 metres, improving Čeh's mark from the second round by 10 centimetres.

Determined to defend the title he won in Eugene, US last year, the 24-year-old Slovenian sent his discus soaring out to 70.02 metres in the final round, by then the only throw over 70 metres.

However, the 30-year-old Swede did better still, flinging his discus to a 71.46 metre mark, adding 33 centimetres to the championship record that Čeh set last year.

Never before had two athletes surpassed 70 metres in the same competition on the global stage, which proves just how exciting the final round was.

Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania claimed bronze with a throw of 68.85 metres.

"After such a dramatic final, I'm happy with silver," said Čeh after winning what is the seventh medal for Slovenia at the world stage.

"My expectations were really high. I knew I was physically prepared, even though one month before the World Championships I was struggling with technique. In the end, everything came together and I knew that I had 70 metres in me, which I showed on the last throw," he said.

"I also knew Stahl is an amazing athlete who likes full stands and gets that extra energy from the fans. I didn't think though that his last throw will go that far," added Čeh, who also had a sizeable fan base from around his home town of Ptuj in Budapest.

Čeh now has a gold and a silver from world championships as well as a silver medal from the 2022 European Championships in Munich. He finished fifth in his debut Olympic appearance in Tokyo in 2021.

In Paris next year, Sthal will be defending his Olympic title.

"I hope I will take Olympic gold from him in the French capital next year. I will get ready to the maximum as I did for this year's World Championships. That will be the main goal for next season and I'm sure it will be another amazing competition at the Olympic Games," Čeh told Slovenian reporters in Budapest.

"I have a few more years ahead. I promise I will be world champion again and will take the championships record back," he added for the public broadcaster TV Slovenija.