Colonel William A. Phillips

Camryn Rogers (born June 7, 1999) is a Canadian athlete specializing in the hammer throw.[5] She is the reigning world champion, only the second Canadian woman to win gold at the World Athletics Championships. She is also the 2022 World silver medalist, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, 2018 world U20 champion, and represented Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She competed at the collegiate level as a member of the California Golden Bears track and field team, winning three NCAA outdoor titles.

Early life

Rogers was born and raised in Richmond, British Columbia. Following her parents' divorce when she was three years old, she was raised by her mother, Shari Rogers, a hairdresser. Her mother would later say, "for many years, it was just her and I. Many struggles along the way. A lot of hardships."[6] Rogers did not initially participate in any sports, but first tried the hammer throw on January 5, 2012, upon the recommendation of one of her mother's clients, who was a member of the Richmond Kajaks track club. She would later say, "fifteen minutes before the start of the first practice of the new year. I just decided I should go. There was no way of knowing until you did it." Rogers cited the 2012 Summer Olympics in London some months afterward as solidifying her interest in becoming an elite athlete.[7][6]

In 2017, Rogers was a high school champion in hammer throw and was recruited by several American universities. She opted to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where she would complete two academic degrees.[6]

Competitive career

Following her high school graduation, Rogers won the women's hammer throw event at the 2017 Canadian U20 Championships and then won the same event at the 2017 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships. She was initially named to the British Columbian team for the Canada Summer Games but withdrew in order to focus on preparations for her time at Berkeley.[8] The following year, she won the women's hammer throw at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships, saying it was "really special. I think the thought of me being the world champion will really hit me later."[9]

In 2019, Rogers won gold at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This was a California student's first championship title in women's track and field since 2008.[10] Athletics Canada awarded her the Eric E. Coy Trophy as national U20 athlete of the year.[11] Rogers went on to make her debut at senior international championships, placing sixth in the hammer event at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.[12]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of much of the 2020 athletics season and the delay by a full year of the 2020 Summer Olympics, where Rogers had hoped to compete.[13] With the resumption of major competition in 2021, Rogers won her second women's hammer throw title at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In the process, she broke the collegiate record twice in one day and set a personal best with a throw of 75.52 m (247 ft 9 in).[3][14] Afterward she was named to the Canadian team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She advanced to the final of the hammer throw event, the first Canadian woman to ever do so, and finished fifth.[14][15][16][17]

Rogers won the bronze medal in the weight throw at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, setting a new national record in the event 24.06 m (78 ft 11 in).[18] She then won her third title at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, setting another championship record with the ninth-best distance (77.67 m) in the history of women's hammer throw.[13] Rogers then made her World Athletics Championships debut at the 2022 edition in Eugene, Oregon. Qualifying to the final of the hammer throw event, she won the silver medal with a best throw of 75.52 m. This was the first World medal for a Canadian woman in a field sport.[19][7] In her second major international championship of the season, Rogers was part of the Canadian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. On her first and only throw in the qualification round of the hammer throw, she managed a distance of 74.68 m, breaking the Commonwealth Games record previously held by fellow Canadian Sultana Frizell.[20] Rogers went on to win the title with a 74.08 m third throw in the final, finishing four a half metres clear of silver medalist Julia Ratcliffe of New Zealand. Fellow Canadian thrower Jillian Weir joined her on the podium as bronze medalist.[21] In recognition of her achievements, Athletics Canada named her their 2022 Athlete of the Year.[22]

Following her graduation from Berkeley, Rogers began her first full professional season. She was unsponsored going into the new season, necessitating new planning for her finances.[23] Competing at the 2023 USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix in May, Rogers raised her Canadian national record to 78.62. This ranked her fifth in the world all-time list.[24] On the 2023 World Athletics Continental Tour, Rogers finished second at both the Irena Szewińska Memorial in Poland and the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland, in both cases coming behind reigning World champion Brooke Andersen.[25][26]

Rogers entered the 2023 World Athletics Championships as a contender for the title, albeit with Andersen having recorded the five longest throws of the year to that point.[27] After qualifying to the final, she won the gold medal based on her first throw of 77.22 metres. In so doing, she became the second Canadian woman to win gold at the World Athletics Championships, after Perdita Felicien's 2003 hurdles title.[28] As well, she was part of a Canadian sweep of the hammer titles in Budapest, along with Ethan Katzberg's unexpected gold medal in the men's event.[29] With her world championship gold in hand, she shortly afterward acquired sponsorship from Nike, saying "I signed my name on the dotted line the day after the final."[30]

Championship results

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Canada
2016 World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 24th (q) Hammer throw 53.58 m
2017 Pan American U20 Championships Trujillo, Peru 1st Hammer throw 63.42 m
2018 World U20 Championships Tampere, Finland 1st Hammer throw 64.90 m
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 6th Hammer throw 66.09 m
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 5th Hammer throw 74.35 m
2022 World Championships Eugene, United States 2nd Hammer throw 75.52 m
Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st Hammer throw 74.08 m
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st Hammer throw 77.22 m

Personal life

Rogers attended University of California, Berkeley where she also competed as an athlete. She graduated with her master's degree in cultural studies in sport and education in 2023, and started work as special education advocate in September 2023.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Camryn Rogers". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  2. ^ "CAMRYN ROGERS (JR-3) CALIFORNIA". Track & Field Results Reporting System. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Faraudo, Jeff (June 10, 2021). "Cal Track and Field: Camryn Rogers Twice Breaks Collegiate Hammer Mark, Wins NCAAs". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  4. ^ https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/hammer-throw/women?regionType=world&page=1&rankDate=2023-12-26
  5. ^ "ATHLETE PROFILE Camryn ROGERS". World Athletics. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Heroux, Devin (July 16, 2022). "'That's my daughter': Canada's Camryn Rogers thriving at athletics worlds with mom's support". CBC Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Canada's Rogers wins historic silver in women's hammer throw at world championships". Sportsnet. July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Booth, Mark (July 25, 2017). "Record breaking summer for Rogers". Richmond News. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Harrison, Doug (July 14, 2018). "Canada's Camryn Rogers captures world U20 gold in women's hammer throw". CBC Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  10. ^ Yen, Ruey (June 6, 2019). "Cal sophomore Camryn Rogers is the NCAA national champ in w. hammer toss". California Golden Blogs. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  11. ^ "Camryn Rogers Named Canadian U20 Athlete Of The Year". Cal Bears. May 17, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  12. ^ Yue, Jonathan (August 11, 2019). "Canadian athletics team wraps-up 2019 Pan American Games with 15 podium finishes". Athletics Canada. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Canada's Camryn Rogers wins NCAA title with 9th-best hammer throw in history". CBC Sports. June 9, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Canada's Camryn Rogers shatters NCAA record to earn hammer throw gold". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  15. ^ Nichols, Paula (3 July 2021). "Team Canada to have 57 competitors in athletics at Tokyo 2020". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  16. ^ "57 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic track & field team". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Athletics ROGERS Camryn". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-08-02. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  18. ^ 2022 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships Women's Weight Throw Results NCAA.com
  19. ^ Heroux, Devin (July 17, 2022). "Camryn Rogers captures historic hammer throw silver for Canada's 1st medal at 2022 world championships". CBC Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  20. ^ "Canadian diver Caeli McKay wins bronze at Commonwealth Games". CBC Sports. August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  21. ^ "Canadian hammer thrower Camryn Rogers wins gold at Commonwealth Games". CBC Sports. August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  22. ^ Leung, Valerie (May 9, 2023). "Richmond's Camryn Rogers named Athlete of the Year". Richmond News. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  23. ^ a b Faraudo, Jeff (August 18, 2023). "Camryn Rogers Deals With Financial Realities as a Track and Field Professional". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  24. ^ Faraudo, Jeff (May 29, 2023). "Former Cal Star Camryn Rogers Soars to No. 5 All-Time in Women's Hammer Throw". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  25. ^ Harrison, Doug (June 6, 2023). "Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers grabs silver behind reigning world champion in Poland". CBC Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  26. ^ Harrison, Doug (June 13, 2023). "Camryn Rogers 2nd in hammer throw at Paavo Nurmi Games to lead Canadian contingent". CBC Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  27. ^ Ibrahim, Abdulhamid (August 24, 2023). "Canada has many athletes at the World Athletics Championships. Here's who to cheer on". CTV News. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  28. ^ "Camryn Rogers claims hammer throw gold, becoming 1st Canadian woman to win world title in 20 years". CBC Sports. August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  29. ^ Russell, Scott (August 24, 2023). "Camryn Rogers, Ethan Katzberg at forefront of Canadian renaissance in throwing events". CBC Sports. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  30. ^ Faraudo, Jeff (September 19, 2023). "World Champion Camryn Rogers Earns Contract From Nike". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 21, 2023.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camryn_Rogers