Kara Winger throws for Olympic spot this evening.

[rgarlitz]

38-year-old Purdue alum Kara Winger (Patterson) will compete in the javelin finals at 6 this evening at the T/F Olympic trials. She finished the preliminary round in 1st place with a leading throw of 63.01 meters, a little more than half a meter ahead of the 2nd-best throw (62.4).

Winger is the javelin American record holder (68.11 meters) and is trying to make her 4th Olympic team (2008, 2012, 2021). Her career has experienced quite a renaissance in recent years. She's had a bunch of international success but has not yet won an Olympic medal.

Results

 

[rgarlitz]

Kara Winger finished 2nd in the javelin final with a throw of 62.94 meters. That mark is about a meter short of the Olympic standard. But, she's currently 13th in the world this year. So, there's a good chance she'll still be going to Paris for her 5th Olympics (I missed that she qualified in 2016).

That's very impressive---a 5* Olympic athlete!

 

[rgarlitz]

Unfortunately, it looks like Kara Winger will not qualify for her 5th Olympics. She finished 2nd in yesterday's javelin final, but her best throw landed about a meter short of the Olympic standard.

She has the 13th best throw in the world this year but not enough throws to qualify for a world ranking--which determines the quota bids.

She accepted the result gracefully and now plans to retire permanently from elite competition.

She had a great career: American record holder and 2022 world championships silver medalist. Interestingly, many of her greatest successes came after the age of 30, several in her mid-30s.