NORMAN — There are stories and then there are the stories within a story. Oklahoma javelin thrower Brittany Borman has a great one.
Because there she was, down to her last throw at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Already she had won an NCAA title, yet this was different.
This was to go to London.
She hit it, of course.
Even if she didn’t think so.
“It really didn’t feel good out of my hands,” she said. “It was just one of those things where it was like, ‘Oh man, I’m done.’ … I kind of heard the crowd cheer, they went wild, so then I thought it might have been all right.”
It went 201 feet and 9 inches, or 61.51 meters. She topped her previous best throw at the trials by about 13 feet and, more importantly, surpassed the Olympic ‘A’ Standard by about half a meter.
Her coach, assistant Sooner track coach Brian Blutreich put the experience in perspective.
“There were two women with the ‘A’ standard (at the trials), so she actually had to get the ‘A’ standard to go,” he said. “And in dramatic form, it came on her last throw, won the Olympic Trials, beat the American record holder and passed the Olympic ‘A’ standard on her birthday.”
Blutreich also provided a kicker.
“She had been looking good the whole meet. She was just kind of missing it a little bit,” he said. “We talked about working on just one thing and I actually had her change javelins. The javelin she used was not the one she had been using all year … I knew the way it was flying in the air it was going to be far, I just didn’t know how far … I guess it’s a special jav, because that’s the javelin my wife used when she won the Trials in 2000.”
Nemeth is the brand of the particular javelin. Other than that, it has no name, but it’s some special javelin.
Blutreich is a former Olympian who married an Olympian. His wife, Lynda Lipson-Blutreich, is a three-time U.S. champion, who competed at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She has also been to two World Championships and two Pan American Games. And, apparently, she and her husband kept an old javelin lying around.
“We only use that one for competitions,” Blutreich said. “It had been sitting in our garage for about 12 years, and then we brought it out this year because we knew Brittany would have a chance to use it.”
On her very last throw.
On her birthday.
The historic javelin will not be going to London, but others just like it will be available. Perhaps Borman will enjoy similar results.
“I was just watching the board,” Borman said. “And then I saw that number come up.”
It was a big day.
Her ticket was stamped.
She was on her way to London.
Sports
Story becomes Olympic drama
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