By most accounts, Ian Waltz is having a great 2008. He owns the eighth-best discus throw in the world this year, best among Americans. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials finals on his first throw.
And now, the Ashland-born thrower is headed to Beijing.
Adding to his two USA Outdoor championships in 2005 and 2006, Waltz’s fourth throw of 216 feet, 1 inch overtook 2007 USA Outdoor champion Michael Robertson on Sunday. Waltz, a Washington State graduate, will be competing in his second Olympics.
“I thought I threw well and it feels good to be going to Beijing,” Waltz said. “I wasn’t prepared as well as I could’ve been, but sometimes rest is a little better during this stage of the year. It was a great day overall.”
Though Waltz was the only thrower on the day to record an Olympic qualifying ‘A’ standard mark, Robertson and third-place finisher Casey Malone, who finished sixth in the discus in Athens, will join Waltz in Beijing based on prior marks. Malone edged out Doug Reynolds by one inch, 205-7 to 205-6, to claim third place and secure an Olympic berth.
“My first throw ended up being my farthest throw, but it didn’t feel perfect. I was hoping to get a little bit better throw than that being that Doug Reynolds was so close behind me,” Malone said. “I didn’t feel safe by any means. I was hoping to get a better throw.”
Malone also expressed relief at making his second Olympic Games in the discus – not an easy feat, he said, considering the competition.
“The number of the athletes in the discus with the ‘A’ standard I think has almost doubled since the last Olympic Trials,” he said. “It has been a very difficult field to try to overcome. It makes it all that much more special being [in the Olympics] the second time and being [in] against a very competitive field.”
The competitive field did claim a couple of notable victims Sunday. Jarred Rome, the 2004 Olympic Trials champion, finished next to last, and John Godina, a three-time Olympian in the shot put who focused on the discus at the Trials, finished in last place.
“I’ve never had a disappointment like this,” Rome said. “I had three throws that slipped off my hand and went straight up into the air. I led the qualifying and am in the best shape of my life, but I’m not on the Olympic team.”
Aarik Wilson, meanwhile, had no trouble getting to the Olympics in the triple jump. The three-time USA Indoor champion and 2007 USA Outdoor champion broke the 22-year-old Hayward Field record by jumping 57-2.25 on his final jump of the day, eclipsing 2004 Olympian Kenta Bell’s mark of 56-6.5.
Bell, who served a three-month suspension for doping last year, survived Florida State graduate Rafeeq Curry’s last jump of 56-5.75. All three had previously jumped the Olympic qualifying ‘A’ standard and did so again during the finals.
“Things have been going rough the last couple of years, but to come in and hit a jump early felt really good,” Bell said. “The second time is better than the first time. This one was harder and I put a lot of work into this.”
Wilson’s final jump was the sixth best in the world this year and the best by an American.
With eight-time USA Outdoor champion Breaux Greer out of the mix for the men’s javelin final, someone had to step up and win. Enter Bobby Smith.
Smith, the Monmouth University record holder in the javelin and a collegiate All-American, entered the Trials as the 12th seed but left an unlikely outdoor champion. His fifth throw of the day traveled 249-6, beating out 2007 USA Outdoor runner-up Mike Hazle by a foot. 2003 NCAA champion Brian Chaput finished third.
No thrower achieved the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard of 268-4 Sunday, so the only two athletes in the final with the ‘A’ standard – Hazle and fifth-place finisher Leigh Smith – will represent the U.S. in the javelin.
“The conditions were pretty tough. It would have taken a world record to get the ‘A’ standard today,” Hazle said. “It just came down to fighting with the guys for the top spot. Obviously I was frustrated with the distance. Anytime you have that much wind, it’s going to knock [the javelin] down.”
Smith, for his part, was elated to have mastered the difficult winds even if a trip to Beijing is not in his immediate future.
“I had a great year and it’s been one hell of a journey. It’s just unreal,” Smith said. “Today I had the series of my life. It’s great being a winner. I knew I had the winning throw in me. I just wish I had a tailwind to get the ‘A’ standard.”
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