Three women will represent the U.S. in the hammer throw at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
Maybe not the first three that come to mind.
Jessica Cosby, the 2006 USA Outdoor champion and UCLA graduate, set an Olympic Trials record on her first throw of the finals as the hammer traveled 232 feet. She threw five more times, fouling once, but her initial mark was enough for first place.
Cosby, the sixth seed in the competition, needed an Olympic-qualifying throw to head to Beijing, as her best mark entering the competition was 226-4, set a month ago.
“This is what my coach and I have been training for,” Cosby said. “I was just fired up and ready to go today. Getting the ‘A’ standard in the qualifying took pressure off.”
Amber Campbell’s last throw of the day sealed her first Olympic bid, hitting a mark of 227-2. Her ‘A’ standard qualifying mark had been achieved last year, but she only had the fifth-best qualifying mark entering Saturday’s competition.
“I knew that with so many girls in there being so talented and ready for huge throws, I knew it was going to be anybody’s game,” she said. “It was a big relief to start off nice and just keep building from there.”
Campbell gave high marks to the exuberant Hayward Field crowd as well.
“Everybody was really supportive and getting after every throw,” she said. “Everyone was really energetic for it. Twenty thousand people cheering and going crazy for you was absolutely amazing. It was an awesome experience.”
Stanford graduate Sarah Veress posted the third-highest mark Saturday, throwing 225-1. However, Veress did not have an ‘A’ standard qualifying mark entering Saturday and came up three feet short, allowing 2005 NCAA champion Loree Smith, who threw 220-2 for fourth place, a spot on the Olympic team based off a previous qualifying mark.
Smith, who lives and trains in Eugene, knew her qualifying status was out of her hands.
“I knew I had the ‘A’ going in, but if (Veress) would have got it on the last one I knew I would not be up here,” Smith said. “There was a lot going through my mind.”
Top-seed Brittany Riley and American record-holder Erin Gilreath were the bottom two throwers in Saturday’s competition.
Michelle Carter made it look easy in the women’s shot put final, as half her throws Saturday exceeded the Olympic qualifying ‘A’ standard. Her second toss of 61-10.25 gave her the win.
In making her first Olympic team, Carter also carved out the makings of a legacy. Her father is Michael Carter, who won the silver medal in the shot put at the 1984 Olympics and also holds the national boys’ high school record in the shot put, a mark of 81-3.5. Michelle Carter currently holds the girls’ high school record.
Kristin Heaston, a 2004 Olympian and three-time outdoor champion, finished second with a throw of 60-2, while top seed Jillian Camarena achieved a mark of 59-5.5 for a slightly uncomfortable third place. South Florida graduate and sixth-grade science teacher Chandra Brewer put pressure on Camarena but came up three inches short of her, ultimately settling for fourth.
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