Echikunwoke steps up following early exit from Andersen and struggles by Kassanavoid to outlast Price and prevail in women’s hammer throw final at 245 feet (74.68m); Thompson repeats in men’s javelin and returns to Olympics looking to build on 21st-place effort in Tokyo in 2021

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport, Chuck Aragon and John Nepolitan

EUGENE, Ore. – Annette Echikunwoke has always admired the depth of the women’s hammer throw in the United States, so much so that the Nigerian-born competitor and African record holder decided to transfer her national eligibility in 2022 and represent the Americans that year at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Oregon.

Echikunwoke once again validated that depth Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, winning one of the most unpredictable and emotional competitions in American history at the same venue.

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After 2022 World champion Brooke Andersen fouled out following three rounds and two-time global medalist Janee’ Kassanavoid could never climb higher than fourth in the standings on her way to a sixth-place finish, Echikunwoke remained patient and optimistic that her first attempt of 245 feet (74.68m) would somehow be enough to earn a spot on the U.S. roster to compete in August at the Paris Olympics.

Echikunwoke, 27, got even more than she anticipated from her opening-round effort, as two-time global medalist and 2019 World champion DeAnna Price was unable to build on her third-round mark of 244-6 (74.52m) and wound up securing second, with Erin Reese taking third at 233-7 (71.21m), helping the 2017 NCAA Division 1 indoor weight throw champion at Cincinnati add a U.S. crown in the hammer throw to her resume.

It was vindication for Echikunwoke after she was expecting to represent Nigeria at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, only to be told after the track and field schedule had already started in Japan that she was unable to compete as a result of the negligence of the country’s Athletics Federation for not scheduling mandatory drug tests and for not informing the African record holder that she had to provide her whereabouts in order for testing to be administered.

Echikunwoke, who boasts a lifetime-best effort of 247-8 (75.49m) from 2021, was one of 10 Nigerian competitors disqualified from participating in Tokyo due to the carelessness of the country’s Athletics Federation.

Echikunwoke made an immediate impact at her first USATF Outdoor Championships in 2022, taking third in the hammer throw final and placing 12th at the World Athletics Championships – North American competitors also swept the podium – with both events at Hayward Field.

She finished fifth last year at the U.S. final, with a pair of Americans again making the World podium in Budapest, Hungary, as Kassanavoid and Price were second and third, respectively, behind champion Camryn Rogers of Canada.

With Andersen and Kassanavoid not qualifying to throw in Paris, it could still be a North American podium sweep in the Olympic final, only this time involving Echikunwoke, Price and Rogers.

There is uncertainty surrounding Reese’s potential to compete in France, especially since she does not boast the Olympic standard and entered Sunday’s final ranked in the top 40 in the world at 234-5 (71.46m), with only 32 athletes being selected to comprise the field in Paris.

Rachel Tanczos, who finished fourth Sunday at 232-10 (70.98m), does boast the Olympic standard based on her 245-5 (74.82m) performance June 1 at the Iron Wood Classic in Idaho and could earn the third roster spot for the Americans instead of Reese.

Although Curtis Thompson secured back-to-back national titles and captured his fourth career U.S. crown in the men’s javelin throw final with a first-round mark of 272-5 (83.04m), the reigning Pan American Games gold medalist remained uncertain regarding who else might be joining him from the event on the American roster to compete in Paris.

Capers Williamson and Donavon Banks, training partners and representatives for U.S. Javelin Project, placed second and third, respectively, at 261 feet (79.57m) and 259-9 (79.19m), respectively, but neither athlete has achieved the Olympic standard.

Thompson, who also won U.S. titles in 2018, 2021 and last season, doesn’t boast the Olympic standard of 280-6 (85.50m) either, but the former NCAA Division 1 champion at Mississippi State who finished 21st in the qualifying round with a mark of 256-6 (78.20m) at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics has a global ranking this year inside the top 15 athletes, with the desired field in Paris expected to be 32 competitors.

Marc Minichello from Georgia, the reigning NCAA Division 1 winner from June 5 at Hayward Field, is the next highest-ranked American competitor pursuing a berth to throw in Paris, ranked in the top 30 global athletes overall, despite earning eighth Sunday with a 239-8 (73.07m) performance.