Camryn Rogers: Rock-solid and golden at Paris 2024

“I heard my coach screaming from the stands and looked over and saw my family just losing their minds. And I think that was when it was like very clear to me like, oh my God, like this is it, it’s over. I did it like we did this thing.”

Camryn Rogers, the reigning world champion of women’s hammer throw, is now an Olympic champion.

The 25-year-old walked confidently into the Stade de France with a bright smile and flashed her signature heart sign during athlete introductions for the Paris 2024 women’s hammer throw final. Rogers had the second biggest throw in the world this year with a mark of 77.76m going into her second Olympic Games. The Canadian record-holder took to the circle and with incredible speed (99 km/h rotation), power, and precision, Rogers’ first throw landed at 74.11m.

Among the 12 athletes, Rogers was the favorite going into the competition. The four-time Canadian champion upped her game and in the fourth round threw 75.44m, just four centimeters behind American Annette Echikunwoke, who threw 75.48m in the third round.

Rogers, who finished fifth in her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, rocked the field and unleashed a massive fifth round throw of 76.97m.

Although Rogers had moved ahead of the field by well over a metre she knew the competition was not yet over.

“Yeah, I mean, a competition is never over until it’s actually done and over. And so even though I had that good throw in the fifth round, I was still trying my best to keep everything together because there’s still one more throw and anything can happen on that last throw, anything.”

Rogers reflected on her golden throw,

“Coming into this final today, to have the experience that I’ve had, the highs and the lows, it’s all learning moments. Coming to this moment, getting to that fifth round, it’s a moment of do or die. To be able to do it when it counts, in that throw, to see my coach cheering from the stands, it’s like, ‘OK, I think we did it’. To see the mark pop up – this is the kind of thing we’ve been training for, fighting for, I’m just glad I was able to make him proud in that moment of having all of our training lead to this.”

There would be one more round of throws but no one would come close to the two-time Olympian’s mark.

An even brighter smile flashed across Rogers’ face when she knew the Olympic title was hers.

She bounded across the field and track to hug her coach, then she hugged men’s hammer throw finalist Rowan Hamilton, and then, the longest hug was shared with her mother and her father.

Rogers has etched her name in the history books — she is the first Canadian woman to ever win an Olympic medal in a throwing event.

“To be on that podium and to hear the national anthem, it’s something that I feel like I’ve dreamed of for so long. I started throwing 12-and-a-half years ago. That summer was the London 2012 Olympics. Watching our Canadian women out there, doing their absolute best and representing our country so well. I knew I wanted to be here one day.”

Rogers received her gold medal and then proudly sung the national anthem in front of a packed stadium with her family, friends and coach front and center for the momentous ceremony.

Her family’s presence was of great importance to the newly crowned Olympic champion.

“To be here, and to be on that podium, to make my family proud – they’ve flown all the way here from Richmond, British Columbia, from Vancouver, from New Zealand, from California.

“Everything’s culminated to this moment. I’m so happy to share it with them. I also heard someone screaming the anthem in the audience, and I thought that was just so awesome.”

During a post ceremony press conference, Rogers expressed her love for the hammer throw.

“This is a big and beautiful sport to be a part of with some of the best people possible to be throwing with.” Rogers continued, “Every single time we take a throw we are setting an example and we have a responsibility to show the best side of ourselves and the sport in the hopes that we continue to grow and flourish as an entire event for many years to come. I feel like it’s already changed and flourished in the 12 years I’ve been a part of it.”