Olympic-hopeful B.C. hammer-thrower has nowhere to throw hammer
Adam Keenan lost access to throwing cage for training 2 years ago
UPDATE — July 2, 2024: Adam Keenan was named as part of Athletics Canada's squad for the Paris Games.
Victoria's Adam Keenan can spin with his hammer at the track where he's been training in pursuit of a spot at the Paris Olympics — but that's about it. He can't let the hammer fly because there isn't a safety throwing cage.
"It's been extremely frustrating," he said about the closure two years ago of the B.C. capital's only facility for events like the hammer throw.
"As an elite athlete, all I ever want to do is train. I want to represent Canada the way that I feel it deserves to be represented, and it's been a struggle."
Keenan, now 30, took up the sport in high school almost by a fluke when his friend whose father coached her in javelin asked him to join. After doing so, he eventually landed on success with the hammer — which is actually a metal ball weighing 7.26 kilograms that's attached to a grip by a steel wire.
To support his athletics, his family helped to install a throwing circle and safety cage at his high school, Lambrick Park Secondary, which Keenan continued to train at.
But in May 2022, he turned up one day to find it locked.
"There was no communication with any of us," said Keenan. "We just weren't allowed to train there anymore. The school board had locked it up and that's what I've been dealing with the last two years now."
The Greater Victoria School District will not say why it closed access to the throwing cage at Lambrick Park. Keenan's club, Athletics Victoria, says it was due to safety and liability.
Both sides are working on a redevelopment of the Jack Wallace Memorial Track at Oak Bay High School in neighbouring Oak Bay, B.C., which will feature the infrastructure required for all Olympic athletic disciplines, including the hammer throw.
Athletics Victoria put up around $40,000 while Athletics Canada has provided $20,000 to have a cage from a national throwing centre in Kamloops repaired and set up at the Oak Bay track.
But Keenan and his club said promises made by the district for a timely installation remain unmet.
'Safety comes first'
The school district said it agrees that an overhaul of the track at Oak Bay is needed that will cater to track and field athletes at any level.
"We understand track and field athletes and coaches are eager to use a new throws cage at Oak Bay High; however, safety comes first," it said in a statement.
"The safety of the structure and location of the structure must be determined before being installed or used on school district property."
Keenan's coach and support is in Victoria; he's loath to move to another location, such as Kamloops, to train.
The lack of an appropriate training facility seems to have stalled Keenan's progress. He has not improved on his best throw in the two years since the Lambrick throwing cage was shuttered.
"Training hasn't been what I've wanted it to be for the last two years, but again, I can only focus on the now and I'm doing my best," said Keenan. He said not being able to safely train with his coach in Victoria is "a huge factor" in not progressing over the past two years.
"I would have liked to have gotten more throws in these past two years. However, I'm confident in my own abilities," he said.
Despite the challenges, Keenan is close to securing a place on the Canadian team heading to Paris in July.
While he hasn't met the men's Olympic-standard throw of 78.20 metres, he can still qualify through his world ranking.
Keenan said the top 32 athletes in the world are eligible for the Olympics and, as of June 27, he is ranked 23rd in the men's hammer throw by World Athletics. The qualification period ends June 30, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
He also needed to finish in the top three at the Canadian National Track and Field Championships to be eligible for the national team. He did so with a throw of 72.89 metres on Wednesday at the national event in Montreal.
'15 years in the making'
Keenan's impasse over having an appropriate place to train mirrors the experience of other elite athletes in Canada who don't have the sufficient means to practise.
There are no longer complete facilities for any Olympic throwing sports in Victoria. Vancouver, meanwhile, only has one public track with throwing amenities, which are limited and in need of upgrading.
The lack of training facilities is at odds with Canada's results. Two B.C. athletes, Camryn Rogers from Richmond and Ethan Katzberg from Nanaimo, won the hammer throw events at the 2023 World Track and Field Championships and qualified for Paris with Olympic-standard throws on Wednesday.
"What could we do if we actually had more facilities in place in communities like Vancouver?" wondered Nigel Hole, CEO of Vancouver Thunderbirds Track and Field Club, and the meet director for the Harry Jerome Track Classic.
Last year, Hole and other advocates successfully convinced the City of Vancouver to preserve the Killarney Park track grass infield to accommodate javelin and hammer throws as part of upgrades at the site.
It means that, once completed in 2026, Vancouver would have one complete track-and-field facility that could host a track meet featuring all disciplines, as well as being a training hub for local athletes.
"We do have world-class coaches here, world-class resources. We just need the facilities," said Hole.
While any track upgrades in Victoria will likely come too late for Keenan, he says they will help future athletes.
"Canada has been doing incredible in the throwing events and it hasn't just started. This is about 15 years in the making," he said.
"Having a cage here would be able to bring in that next generation of throwers. And it's not just about going to the Olympics — sometimes it's about getting through high school with a new skill, getting a scholarship … so your life could change."
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