GANNETT NEWS SERVICE MULTIMEDIA                                                                    Olympics home | E-mail feedback

August 19, 2004 11:29 am

Hammer thrower hopes to nail medal

By ELLIOTT DENMAN

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - With her seventh-place performance in the hammer throw at the World Track and Field Championships last August in Paris, Anna Norgren Mahon reached a major milestone.

That seventh spot represented the highest an American woman thrower - in the shot put, discus, javelin or hammer - had ever finished at the biennial world title meet, which was first held at Helsinki, Finland, in 1983.

Mahon's throw was measured at 224 feet, 7 inches. Now, matched up with many of the same throwers she faced in Paris, she's planning to do a lot better in the Olympic Games.

Women's hammer throw action at Olympic Stadium opens with a qualifying round on Monday, with the top 12 advancing to the finals two days later.

``This is neat, this is fun,'' Mahon reported from the U.S. Track and Field Team's training camp in Crete.

``It's a great setup. I couldn't ask for better. I've been getting in some great workouts.''

Mahon, 29, is a Stamford, Conn., High School and University of Vermont graduate and lives and trains in Orange, Conn., while serving as an assistant coach at Yale. She will join Erin Gilreath of Gainesville, Fla., and Jackie Jeschelnig of Ashland, Ohio to form the three-woman U.S. hammer team.

Gilreath, a 24-year-old University of Florida graduate, raised the women's American hammer record to 236 feet, 7 inches at an April 10 meet in Tucson, Ariz. The U.S. record she erased - just barely - was Mahon's 2002 performance of 236-3.

At last month's Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Gilreath (231-0) and Mahon (227-1) went 1-2. Jeschelnig placed fourth but gained her Olympic ticket over third-place Amber Campbell because she'd met the Olympic ``A'' standard in another meet, and Campbell hadn't.

All three Americans will have their work cut out against favorite Yipsi Moreno of Cuba. Just 23, Moreno has six of the year's top nine throws, including a best of 246-8.

Two Olgas - Olga Tsander of Hungary (245-2) and Olga Kuzenkova of Russia (244-7) - are next best on the 2004 charts.

Gilreath ranks 10th and Mahon 17th.

Mahon said she didn't fare well in post-Trials meets in Paris and Munich but has been recharging her batteries and getting her technique together in Crete before hopping the U.S. team shuttle over to Greece later this week.

``Physically, mentally, every way, I am definitely ready to bounce back,'' she said.

``My goal is to stay relaxed and be ready.

``A medal? Sure, that's definitely do-able.''

ADVERTISEMENT