Martin Bingisser

America takes hammer throw silver at the World Junior Championships

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Alyssa Wilson made history on Saturday with the highest ever finish by an American woman the the IAAF World Junior Championships. The UCLA freshman opened the competition strong and moved into second place on her second attempt. She improved in round three to 64.45 meters (211’5″) to secure her position and eventually capture silver. Wilson entered the competition as the world leader, but it was also her third final after a long week of competition in a rare attempt to win medals across all three heavy throws events. Unfortunately she fouled out of the shot put final, and placed just 10th in the discus. But her luck was much better in the hammer.

Not only was her runner-up performance was the highest finish ever at the meet by an American woman, but it marked only the second medal ever in the event after Maureen Griffin’s silver medal at the 1998 World Junior Championships. It is also just the fifth medal overall across men and women, with Conor McCullough capturing gold in 2010 and silver in 2008, and Walter Henning claiming gold in 2008. Also in the competition American Jillian Shippee of the University of North Carolina took sixth with a throw of 61.38 meters (201’4″).

In the men’s competition, Americans Michael Feldman and Steven Feldman placed 24th and 29th respectively. Both men’s and women’s competitions were also won by NCAA competitors. Cal Berkeley’s Camryn Rogers of Canada took home the women’s gold, while LSU Jake Norris of Great Britain won the men’s competition. Full men’s results and women’s results are on the IAAF homepage.