While waiting for these World Cups in Budapest 2023, Canada’s balance in the hammer throw has come down to Camryn Rogers’ silver at recent World Cups as well as a men’s Olympic silver and bronze medal.…more than 100 years ago! With Walsh he won bronze in London in 1908 and Duncan Gillis won silver in Stockholm in 1912 in an early era of US dominance (he only missed out on both medals in the first four Olympics).

Well, 111 years later, the North American country surprised with the conquest of two gold medals in the hammer throw with the very young Ethan Katzberg (21 years old) and his compatriot Camryn Rogers, 24 years old. It is curious that in such a vast country they both come from neighboring towns in British Columbia, since she was born in Richmond and he in Nanaimo. There are only a few kilometers separating them, but they are by sea since the first is located on the mainland and the second on Vancouver Island. “They get along very well and are friends,” they tell us in the Canadian delegation, “but they have never trained together, they are different groups.”

Ethan Katzberg appeared in Budapest after self-proclaimed last year’s Commonwealth champion in Birmingham and with the third best score of the year (78.53) after a spectacular progression since 2021 closed with a best score of 69.75. But… why is he a hammer thrower?

Well, it comes from the greyhound breed. A hammer and weight coach, older sister was trained by her father Bernie of the world champion, Jessica (he is 23 years old and managed to throw 47.42 with the big hammer when he was only 17 years old. Meanwhile, the “giant” Ethan was playing basketball, but ended up by being seduced by the artifact and put himself in the hands of his father (his mother Coralee is a financial advisor).

Everything changed when he decided to take it more seriously and travel 400 kilometers east to Kamploosa city also located in the immense British Columbia between Vancouver and Calgary. And there it was placed in the hands of Dylan Armstrongwho won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, silver at the 2011 Daegu World Cup and bronze at the 2013 Moscow Games, but in the shot put.

The duo worked perfectly and Katzberg already surprised during the qualifications in Budapest, destroying his personal best by two and a half meters with a national record (81.18). And the next day, in the final, he showed a extraordinary competitive maturity for his 21 years and reigned with another Canadian record (81.25) and with five throws better than the mark with which he arrived at the World Championships plus a draw (80.18, 80.02, 79.82, 81.25 and 81.11). And to celebrate, he mingled with the public to follow the Hungarian National Day fireworks along the Danube. Very crack!

At 1.98 meters tall, weighing 107 kilos and with that carefree and popular appearance with his long hair, Katzberg made history partly thanks to chance. The first, being born into a family of hammers so to speak. And the second, falling into the hands of Armstrong. In fact, Vancouver Island has an area similar to that of Catalonia and does not reach 850,000 inhabitants. What would you do if you hadn’t decided to take the plunge?

Not content with that, Canada capped off its historic performance on Saturday with its first women’s medal in the hammer throw as well as gold. The author was Camryn Rogers, whose childhood was complicated due to her parents’ separation when she was only three years old.

The world champion stayed with her mother Shari, a hairdresser in Richmond. “For many years, it was me and her. A lot of struggles, a lot of difficulties,” he commented of his childhood.. A student of environmental law, he always competes with a silver pendant given to him by his first coach and has always stood out since he “fell in love with the hammer” at the age of 13.

So… where is the coincidence in your case? Well, little Camryn had no interest in sports at all until one day A customer at his mother’s hair salon told him he might have conditions to play sports. and between them, they convinced her to go to the stadium. From there to gold in Budapest, there is a long road to success, like his historic fifth place at the Tokyo Games in the first final for a Canadian hammer jumper or, like Ethan Katzberg, his gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year.

Camryn Rogers, measuring 1.70, had just made history with her silver medal in Eugene and arrived with the second best score of the year (78.62), although far from American favorite Brooke Andersen (80.17), who fell with a fall during qualifying. In the final, the Canadian did not need to set a personal best with 77.72 to beat another American, Kassanavoid (76.36).

Certainly, Camryn will have already returned to Canada with a good quantity of coffee beans, one of his great passions. And every time he participates in competitions abroad, he takes this product with him to taste the differences between countries. She is passionate about coffee… and medals. But… would she be world hammer champion if this customer from her mother Shari’s hair salon hadn’t convinced her?