By Hannah Bonnie
During the sixth day of the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, the meet record for the women’s hammer throw was broken four times, twice by the original holder, Amber Campbell.
On her fourth throw, Campbell broke her old record of 235 feet, 7 inches with a distance of 236-3. On the following throw, eventual second-place finisher Gwen Berry broke it again, throwing 236-4. Deanna Price, the third-place finisher, directly followed Berry’s performance by throwing 239-9. On Campbell’s final throw, she took back the lead and the record with a throw of 242-10.
“I knew after that fifth throw that I was on the team, so I was just like, ‘Just have some fun and see what happens,’” said Campbell. “I was just trying to relax, and let it fly.”
Campbell got off to a rough start. After fouling her first throw, she threw only 219-1. But as someone who has just made her third Olympic team, Campbell knows how to remain calm, and she progressed from there.
Setting the meet record was not the only history that was made on Wednesday. It was also the first time that the hammer throw was held at Hayward Field. Hammer throw is typically held in the back field because it is viewed as too dangerous, or, as Campbell described it “a whirling, twirling dance of crazy.”
“We don’t get to feel that magic out in the back field, so to be able to compete in the center at Hayward in the middle of the day with an amazing crowd, there’s nothing like it,” said Campbell.
Hammer throw is so dangerous that it is not allowed in high schools. So the first time that Price ever attempted hammer was three months before she started college.
“I remember picking it up for the first time, and I wired it around my head and I clocked myself in the head,” said Price. “I had this huge lump. I threw it down, and I was like. ‘I’m never throwing this again.’”
Because hammer isn’t held on the main field in front of the spectators, it often is an event that gets overlooked.
“No female hammer thrower has medaled for America, and it’s because we have no support,” said Berry.
Earlier this year, Berry had broken Amanda Bingson’s American record of 248-5, but it was taken away from her when she tested positive for banned asthma medication. She was fined and banned from competition for three months, returning just in time for the trials. She said that she would have fought the ban had it not ended prior to the trials.
“Money don’t mean a thing to me,” said Berry. “I just want to be an Olympian, and I am.”
Bingson also competed in the trials, but placed fourth, missing the Olympic team by more than nine feet. She threw 230-8 on her final throw, but it just wasn’t enough.
“It’s not exactly what I wanted, but we have some good girls going to Rio, and they’re going to do some damage,” said Bingson. “That’s why they call it the hardest team to make because it is.”
