DISAPPOINTMENT FOR PRICE
Tuesday, August 3rd
By James O’Brien
The hits keep right on coming. Yesterday saw the NYAC’s Adeline Gray take a silver medal in women’s wrestling and Valarie Allman take the crown in the women’s discus. Today, while – sad to say – Kara Winger failed to advance from the qualifying rounds of the women’s javelin, both Will Claye and Joe Kovacs did so with the ease of prospective medalists. Not that I want to hex it, but let’s look at the facts. Claye has already got three Olympic medals (one of those in the long jump), as well as four world championships medals. And he is a two-time world indoor champion. Unfortunately, Claye’s greatest adversary is out of this meet due to injury; but, you can only compete against who shows up. Kovacs has got an Olympic silver, plus three world championships medals and, in Doha in 2019, won what has been hailed as the greatest shot put competition in history. Unlike Claye, Kovacs’ greatest rival, Ryan Crouser, is in Tokyo with a vengeance, having broken the world record (23.37m/76’ 8 1/4”) while winning the US Trials in June.
You might say that the stage is set; but, hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen. The local organizers clearly had NYAC enthusiasts in mind when they set the Olympic schedule. The finals of the men’s shot put and men’s triple jump take place at the same time. (Well, five minutes apart). So set your alarms for 10pm and 10:05pm on Wednesday. (That’s 11am and 11:05am on Thursday in Tokyo. Fingers crossed, you can toast some NYAC successes in the Tap Room. I’ll have coffee. Then again…..). And, the women’s pole vault final with Katie Nageotte is at 7pm (6am EST) that same day. So don’t toast Will and Joe too voraciously; you’ve got an early start the next day.
In midst of all of the above, let us not forget the US women’s water polo team which, without exaggeration, is dominating the Tatsumi Water Polo Center. This morning, they faced Canada in the quarter-finals. I’m not being unkind when I say that the outcome was never in doubt. The US was leading 7-1 after just eight minutes of play, with the NYAC’s Madeline Musselman and Maggie Steffens each scoring twice in the first quarter. At half-time, the numbers were 11-3. At the buzzer, it was 16-5. Nothing can be taken for granted; but, the US won the last two women’s Olympic crowns and it looks like the hat-trick may be on the cards, mixing metaphors being an under-rated skill, in my opinion. Consider the fact – and I’m back to water polo now, not metaphors – that the US team has won medals in every Olympic Games since the women’s game was added to the program in 2000. I’m not saying anything; I’m just saying. The semi-finals are scheduled for 3:30pm and 7:50pm JST on Thursday, August 5th (that’s 2:30am and 6:50am EST), with the medal round set for the afternoon of Saturday, August 7th.
With all of that action completed, the remaining question to be resolved was the outcome of the women’s hammer throw final, taking place this evening at 8:35pm (7:35am EST). DeAnna Price, the world champion, entered the competition as a powerful favorite, but struggled to advance from the qualifying round, rumored to be carrying a foot injury. The other NYAC competitor, Gwen Berry, advanced comfortably, setting the scene for a nail-biting final.
A thriller it certainly was, though for the wrong reasons. Both Price and Berry struggled to find the form that had characterized their seasons. Berry exited the field after three throws, failing to get among the leading eight who would earn an additional three. Price did make that cut, but only just. Her best throw, 73.09m/239’ 9”, came on her last attempt and saw her finish in eighth position overall. Subsequently, it was confirmed that the NYAC woman had competed with a broken bone in her foot, a considerable handicap that frames her performance in a substantially different context.
Not that it will offer much consolation. Price is a world champion; she didn’t secure that title by accepting failure readily. So, this one hurt, literally and figuratively. But maybe something good will come out of the pandemic-related delay of these Games: the next one is just three years away. DeAnna Price surely didn’t come this far to only come this far.