A CONVERSATION WITH: Three time US Olympian Kara Winger from Vancouver...
Winger is coming off one of her most successful seasons, after being ranked number 7 in the world by Track & Field News, two spots lower than her career best ranking, where she ranked number 5 in the world in 2010, the year that she set the American record of 218-8 (66.67m).
She also won the Pan-Am Games title in 2019, throwing 213-0 (64.92m) under cool conditions in Lima, Peru, and the Match in Minsk, Belarus, where she threw 212-0 (64.63m) in the final round to snatch victory from hometown heroine Tatsiana Khaladovich.
Winger took the momentum from the two late summer victories into Doha, where she finished fifth at the world championships with a throw of 207-5 (63.23m).
With no meets in the immediate future, Winger, who is currently ranked #6 in the world according the the current World Athletics rankings, recapped the highs and lows of the 2019 season. We talked about her current training situation, reflected on her career throwing the javelin, beginning as a 15-year old winning the junior varsity section of a meet in April 2001, in which she out threw the winning mark in the varsity competition, along with some of the highs and lows along the way.
We touched briefly on the state of the women's javelin in this country and what needs to be done to pull those women up, after noting that in 2019, only her and reigning national champion Ariana Ince are the only ones on the world list in the top twenty, with two others inside the top 100, and 11 women who are between 110 and 200 on the world list.
She talked about how long it would take for her to get ready to compete this season, assuming that the quarantine period is lifted, and about the possibility of traveling overseas for competition, knowing that she already has the Olympic qualifying standard, and doesn't need to chase meets between now and the US Olympic Trials in June 2021.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the video content, please don't hesitate to click the envelope at the bottom of the post or in the comments section of the YouTube channel.
Here's the video:
NOTE: USA Track & Field, Mike Scott, Kara Winger, and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee contributed photos used in the slide show presentation.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support our sponsors by clicking on the links.
Comments