As the night went on, the stakes in the women’s hammer throw grew higher and Camryn Rogers got stronger.
Now she’s the Olympic champion.
“I felt like I had to take a moment and process while I was still in the cage and I heard everyone cheering and I heard my coach screaming from the stands, and looked over and saw my family just losing their minds. That was when it was very clear to me that this is it. It’s over. We did this thing
Steadily improving with almost every throw, Rogers put an exclamation point in her Paris 2024 story with her 5th throw. It travelled 77.97 metres, flying about a metre and a half beyond silver medallist and the previous leader, American Annette Echikunwoke’s throw.
“I’m watching the board and after Annette had thrown, we smiled at each other. I was super happy for her and I think I didn’t let it register in my mind that I was the last throw and it was sealed,” Rogers said. “But I still went to that last throw. I had to try to make this a good one. Even though the throw didn’t go so well, I was a little bit excited to release the hammer and be hit with everything at once.”
We’re witnessing history in real time. After teammate Ethan Katzberg became Canada’s first Olympic hammer throw champion a couple days ago, Rogers becomes Canada’s first women’s hammer throw champion today. They are both the reigning world champions in this event. It’s only the third time that a single country has won both the Olympic men’s and women’s hammer throw in a single Games.
Throw Canada.
Make it Three Canadians in the Men’s 200 Metre Semis
Brendon Rodney and Aaron Brown lit up the men’s 200 metre repechage, earning their spots in the men’s 200 metre semi-finals tomorrow night.
Rodney finished first in his repechage heat in 20.42 seconds to advance. Brown was second in his repechage heat, but his time of 20.42 seconds matched his teammate and punched his ticket to the semis.
“Coach just gave me an instruction. The guy in Lane 5 was going to run the corner hard, so stay on his shoulder and just run past him in the straight, that’s what I did,” Rodney said. “I didn’t really like it though, so I’m going back to my style tomorrow, but it was a good little race.”
Andre De Grasse earned his spot in the semi-final round with 2nd place finish in his qualifying heat yesterday, to round out the Canadian contingent in the 200 metres.
“I know it’s going to be tight, but I felt it already and I know I what I’ve got to fix to be better,” Brown said. “I’ve got to go back to my roots and pull out some more Aaron Brown magic.”
Sutherland is Finals Bound
Savannah Sutherland booked her spot in the women’s 400 metre hurdles final, joining a stacked field in the race for the medals.
She finished 4th in her semi-final with a time of 53.80 seconds to guarantee her spot in Thursday night’s final.
“I know the finals going to be pretty historic, so I just wanted to try and get out there, get out quick, and give myself the best chance,” Sutherland said. “I knew that I was in a fast heat, so my best bet would be to run as fast as possible, so I’m happy that I was able to execute. It was an official that came over to tell me that I qualified for the final and I gave her a hug. I think she was a little bit startled, but I was definitely excited.”
Trio of Canadians Head to 1500 Metre Repechage
Lucia Stafford, Kate Current and Simone Plourde lined up in the women’s 1500 metres Tuesday. They will all race in the repechage round tomorrow.
Stafford set a season’s best time of 4:02.22 in a rough race, to finish 10th in her heat.
“I feel very mixed. I always say I’m never going to be upset unless I feel like I didn’t give it my best, and I know I gave it my best. I just feel like I’m ready to graduate,” Stafford said. “I’ve got another chance tomorrow and you bet I’m just going to give it my best.”
Current was 12th in her heat, crossing the line with a time of 4:09.81.
“It’s hard to be upset when I’m at the Olympics, but I didn’t race to my potential and that does sting quite a bit,” Current said ahead of tomorrow’s repechage race. “I’ve experienced what the stadium’s like, what this environment’s like, what the race is going to be like. So I think now I’m going to be able to go into it a little bit calmer and be able to run just a little bit smoother.”
Plourde finished 9th in her heat with a time of 4:06.59 in her Olympic debut. Seeing that there were enough competitors ahead of her in the late stages of the race, Plourde slowed her pace to save herself for the coming repechage race.
“It was pretty surreal. I was at that start line, just so happy. I was trying to tell myself, okay, get in the zone, you’re in a race,” Plourde said. “I think it is fun that we get a second chance and I feel mentally super prepared, so it’s just a question of refocusing coming back tomorrow and hoping for the best.”
Team Canada Roundup
Zoe Sherar and Lauren Gale did not move on from the repechage in the women’s 400 metres.
Sherar was 3rd in her heat, clocking in with a time of 51.43 seconds. Gale finished 6th in her heat in 52.68 seconds.
“Yesterday was getting some of the jitters out and obviously there were some hurdles to get over before we got here. Today I just wanted to put myself in it and go out aggressively to 300 and give myself a shot, and I did that, so that’s something I could be happy about,” Sherar said.
“My family’s here. I’m happy to represent Canada and be a part of this great team. So overall it’s been a good experience,” Gale said.
Christopher Morales Williams was 8th in his men’s 400 metres semi-final. His time of 45.25 seconds was not enough after a long season of competing on the NCAA indoor and outdoor circuits to qualify for the final.
“Obviously I wanted to go win gold, but I already had an incredible season. I can’t get greedy and just be wanting to win everything. So just coming here and doing my best is more than I could ask for,” Morales Williams said. “I’m just happy that I got here and made to the semi. I didn’t just come here and then not even make one round. At least I showed that I could belong.”
Craig Thorne was 5th in his men’s 110 metre hurdles repechage heat. His time of 13.62 seconds did not earn him a spot in the final.
Tomorrow at Paris 2024
Team Canada is taking it back to the streets of Paris, as Evan Dunfee and Olivia Lundman compete in the first ever Olympic Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay. If you’re planning on staying up late to watch this historic first, the gun goes off at 1:30 a.m. ET (10:30 p.m. PT).
Back in the Stade de France, qualifying begins for Mariam Abdul-Rashid and Michelle Harrison in the women’s 100 metre hurdles. Same goes for Mohammed Ahmed, Ben Flanagan and Thomas Fafard in the men’s 5000 metres, as well as Marco Arop in the men’s 800 metres.
Alysha Newman jumps in her first Olympic women’s pole vault final tomorrow night, while Jean-Simon Desgagnés competes in the men’s 3000 metre steeplechase final in his first Olympic Games.
The sprint squad of Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney will race in the men’s 200 metre semi-finals, looking to book a spot to run for the hardware in Thursday’s final.
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