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A feature of the 2022 track season for Canadian athletes will be the XXII Commonwealth Games set for Birmingham late July and early August this summer.
British Columbians hammer throwers lead the early season rankings for this power event known by some to be ”a ballet on a 2.135m concrete circle” or by others as a lethal weapon. Think of a whirling dervish with a 7.2kg cannon ball on a 1.22m wire, spinning 4 times and sending it the length of a football field. This can be a dangerous event without proper protective cages and supervision as this 16 pound spherical rocket can lead to serious injury.
Currently this event has been held in special throwing areas outside the main stadium to optimize safety. Traditionalist feel this isolates or orphans this spectacular event. The 2022 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome Track Classic will hold this event on Monday June 13 at the Rashpal Dhillon track and field facility at the University of British Columbia. The main Jerome Track Classic will be held on the next evening at Swangard Stadium.
The hammer throw competition on Monday will feature 3 British Columbians who dominate the Commonwealth ranking. Rowan Hamilton of Chilliwack and a student at the University of British Columbia leads the trio with a mark of 75.98m. Rowan set the Canadian U23 record with this throw at the Oregon Twilight meet in Eugene on May 6. His mark leads all collegians in North America.
He is followed closely by Adam Keenan of Victoria with a throw of 74.81m this season. Adam has won the National Championships 4 time since 2017 and medaled at the Pan American U20 and the NACAC U23 Championships. His personal record is 75.29m.
Keenan is quoted after the 2021 Nationals: “I’m super grateful to have won,” he said. “It’s my fourth national title. ….. to be the best in the country at something is a huge honour and I’m pleased with that.”
Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo threw his personal best of 74.16m in Eugene on April 23 with the 7.2kg hammer. He represented Canada at the World U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya last summer and earlier had set the Canadian U20 record with the 6kg hammer with 77.97m.
Ethan said after the 2021 Olympic trials “It feels pretty good, right. You’re competing with everyone. You’re the youngest guy there. Obviously, the competition level is way up. Everyone there is there to compete. They’ve been doing national meets for a few years now, and this is my first nationals meet, I wanted to come in and prove I can compete at their level.”
Our hammer throwers will have plenty of competition from south of the border. Sean Donnelly of Willoughby, Ohio has a personal best of 79.14m and a seasonal best of 75.55m. Sean was the bronze medalist in the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru
Brock Eager of Redmond, Washington was the PAC-12 championships in 2019. The Washington State University graduate has a personal best of 75.84m and a seasonal best of 73.13m.
Camryn Rogers of Richmond who holds the Canadian record of 75.73m in this event will be at the Jerome Classic in spirit only, as she will be defending her NCAA title in Eugene days before. Camryn was 5th in the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer and the gold medalist at the 2018 World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. She is aiming at the World Championhips set for Eugene’s new Hayward Field in mid July and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Gary Kingston, the Jerome media co-ordinator reported, “The Jerome, Canada’s longest running track and field event, will feature a full field of athletes and fans in the stands this year. The 2020 Jerome was canceled outright because of the Covid pandemic and the 2021 event was limited to just 71 athletes and no spectators inside the stadium. But that meet was still a resounding success with one Canadian record set, one Olympic standard reached, four meet records and 27 personal bests”
World Athletics, the international governing body lead by Olympic Champion, Seb Coe, has classified the Jerome as a World Athletics Continental Tour, Bronze Level. This designation of the Jerome Classic will provide the athletes with the opportunity to collect World Ranking points.
Tickets to the meet are now available online at www.harryjerome.com
For more information contact
Nigel Hole, meet director
778-891-9350
Marek Jedrzejek, president Achilles Track and Field Society
Gary Kingston, media co-ordinator
604-329-2104
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