Richmond star athlete Camryn Rogers is all but off to the Olympics in Tokyo next month, after shattering the U.S. collegiate record in winning her second NCAA hammer throw title last week.
The 22-year-old Cal-Berkley junior – a McMath secondary and Kajaks alumnus - threw 75.52 metres — the fourth longest throw in the world this year — to win gold.
Rogers initially broke the previous NCAA record of 73.32 with her first throw of 74.97, before beating it again with a 75.52-metre launch on the final throw of the competition.
She is now virtually certain to be named to the Canadian Olympic team for Tokyo, since she's already achieved the Tokyo Olympic standard and has Canada's best throw this season.
Rogers won the 2019 NCAA title. Last year's NCAA outdoor season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
“We just really zeroed in on what we had to do; we came in with a plan and that plan was to execute,” she told the NCAA’s YouTube channel afterwards.
“I was really happy with the preparations that my coach and I took before the competition. I’m so happy to be able to do it at the NCAA Championships.”
Asked if she felt any extra pressure coming into the championships, being the title holder, she replied simply, “Any meet I compete in is about getting the job done.”
