ON A SIZZLING DAY nothing was hotter than DeAnna Price’s hammer. The reigning world champion put Olympic gold squarely in her sights with more American Record-setting. She also became just the second in history to break the event’s magic 80-meter (262-5) barrier.
Before her fifth-round history-maker of 263-6 (80.31), Price had missed the 80m mark by a whisker with her first national record of the day, a third-stanza 262-5 (79.98).
That vaulted her up the all-time list past German legend Betty Heidler to become history’s No. 2 performer behind Poland’s Anita Włodarczyk.
Price thus improved her AR by an astounding 5-8 (1.71). It was the second time this year that she rewrote the all-time U.S. best, the first having come with her 257-10 (78.60) in April. She now finds herself in the unusual position of having 3 pending American Records at the same time.
It’s an honor, Price said, to be included in the “same sentence as Anita Włodarczyk… She is just this amazing athlete. Me throwing over 80m, this is pretty crazy. Being in that territory is a true honor.”
Runner-up Brooke Andersen said, “I went in trying to take nice easy warm-up throws and then I decided to dial it up on the first throw to make sure I got a solid throw in.” Solid it was at 244-0 (74.38), but it was her second-round 255-0 (77.72) that made her an Olympian.
In the contest for the third spot, veteran Gwen Berry parried the efforts of Janae’ Kassanavoid to pass her and squeaked onto her second Olympic team by 3 inches, 241-2 (73.50) to 240-11 (73.45). Berry fouled her last three throws but said, “Today the competition was a little tough. I didn’t have any speed, but I made it. I’m here. I fought through it and I’m happy I did.”
Price’s series is by far the greatest in U.S. history: 255-4 (77.82), 257-7 (78.51), 262-5 (79.98), foul, 263-6 (80.31), 256-5 (78.16). Each of her 5 fair throws was far enough to win the competition and all rate in the 10 farthest U.S. marks ever.
Price had a clear sense of the moment and paid tribute to those U.S. throwers who have inspired her and grown the event, saying, “Of course I’m going to acknowledge Amber Campbell, Gwen Berry, Amanda Bingson, Jeneva McCall, Jessica Cosby. There’s so many for me — it’s just this history and we’re all paving a way. And we’re all trying to get a little bit farther and just be better.”
She continued, “It’s amazing just watching how every event is growing. The men’s hammer… it’s amazing watching all these throwers just progress and get better and better and better. Something’s in the air here.”
That something is a 4-kilo hammer with Price’s name on it soaring to Tokyo. It’s expected to land on the podium on August 03.
WOMEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
(June 26)
1. DeAnna Price (Nik) 263-6 (80.31) AR (old AR 262-5/79.98 Price in series) (WL) (2, =15 W)
(255-4 [x, 6 A], 257-7 [x, 2 A, 262-5 AR [old AR 257-10/78.60 Price ‘21] [WL] [2, x W], f, 263-6 AR, 256-5 [x, 7 A]) (77.82, 78.51, 79.98, f, 80.31, 78.16);
2. Brooke Andersen (NikIron) 255-0 (77.72)
(244-0, 255-0 [x, 9 A], f, 247-8, f, f) (74.38, 77.72, f, 75.48, f, f);
3. Gwen Berry (PumaNYAC) 241-2 (73.50)
(241-2, 235-8, 238-3, f, f, f) (73.50, 71.83, 72.63, f, f, f);
4. Janee’ Kassanavoid (unat) 240-11 (73.45)
(238-7, 240-11, f, f, 237-6, 237-3) (72.73, 73.45, f, f, 72.41, 72.32);
5. Lisa Wilson (unat) 232-7 (70.90) PR
(223-11, 218-2, 224-5, 212-9, 232-7, f) (68.27, 66.51, 68.41, 64.84, 70.90, f);
6. Alyssa Wilson (UCLA) 226-6 (69.04) (f, f, 223-5, f, 221-10, 226-6) (f, f, 68.11, f, 67.61, 69.04);
7. Erin Reese (Vel) 222-8 (67.88)
(222-1, 219-10, 222-8, 215-7, 218-5, 219-0) (67.71, 67.02, 67.88, 65.72, 66.59, 66.77);
8. Whitney Simmons (T1D) 222-6 (67.82)
(219-5, 222-6, p, f, p, f) (66.89, 67.82, p, f, p, f);
9. Lara Boman (Vel) 219-2 (66.80)
(214-11, 219-2, 214-8) (65.51, 66.80, 65.45);
10. Michaela Dendinger (Vel) 217-11 (66.43)
(216-6, 217-11, 215-7) (65.99, 66.43, 65.70);
11. Autavia Fluker (SAl) 212-10 (64.88)
(207-11, 212-2, 212-10) (63.37, 64.67, 64.88);
12. Alina Duran (GSTCNBal) 205-2 (62.55)
(203-9, 205-2, 202-4) (62.10, 62.55, 61.68).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 2)
QUALIFYING (June 24)
Qualifiers: Price 252-11 (77.10) (MR), A. Wilson 241-11 (73.75) PR, Kassanavoid 238-6 (72.69), Reese 237-11 (72.53) PR, Andersen 236-9 (72.16), Berry 232-1 (70.74), Boman 227-7 (69.37) PR, Dendinger 223-0 (67.98), L. Wilson 222-9 (67.90), Fluker 222-5 (67.81), Simmons 220-9 (67.30), Duran 219-3 (66.82);
Non-qualifiers: Rachel Tanczos (NDam) 218-5 (66.59) PR, Shey Taiwo (Ms) 217-8 (66.36), Maddy Nilles (NDSt) 217-5 (66.28), Jillian Shippee (NC) 216-11 (66.12), Jordan McClendon (Mo) 214-7 (65.41), Lauren Jones (Ok) 213-10 (65.19), Emma Robbins (LSU) 212-8 (64.83), Quiara Wheeler (CMi) 209-5 (63.83), Madi Malone (Aub) 207-7 (63.29), Jasmine Mitchell (Ms) 205-1 (62.50), Mikaila Martin (Hous) 205-0 (62.48), Shauniece O’Neal (SnIl) 204-0 (62.19).