Hammer thrower Camryn Rogers grabs silver behind reigning world champion in Poland
Canadian record holder throws 77.62m; B.C.'s Katzberg earns bronze in men's event
Eleven months later in a different continent, the result was the same: A North American sweep in women's hammer throw.
The order of finish at the fifth Irena Szewinska Memorial meet on Tuesday was also identical to the World Athletics Championships competition last July in Eugene, Ore., with Brooke Andersen of the United States, Canada's Camryn Rogers and American Janee' Kassanavoid placing 1-2-3.
Andersen of Vista, Calif., set the tone early Tuesday in sun-splashed Bydgoszcz, Poland, throwing 78.79 metres on her first of six attempts to take down the 78.30 meet record by Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland from June 6, 2010.
It was also the 27-year-old's fifth win in six competitions this outdoor season. On May 20, Andersen became the third best hammer thrower in history to eclipse the 80-metre barrier, throwing 80.17 at the USA Track and Field Throws Festival in Tucson, Ariz.
Rogers, coming off a Canadian record 78.62 on May 26 in Los Angeles, also delivered her best effort of the day on her opening throw, measuring a metre shorter at 77.62 at the Continental Tour Gold meet.
WATCH | Rogers celebrates 24th birthday early with 2nd-place finish:
Kassanavoid worked entirely opposite to Andersen and Rogers, building her distance as the event progressed and topping out at 75.10 on her last throw.
Rogers, who turns 24 on Wednesday, raised her own national record in winning a gold medal at the USATF L.A. Grand Prix. The Richmond, B.C., native's previous best was 77.84, set April 15 at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
WATCH l Rogers can't stop breaking records | Athletics North:
Last month, Rogers was named 2022 athlete of the year by Athletics Canada after following up her world silver medal with gold at the Commonwealth Games in August. She threw 74.68 in the qualifying round to surpass the 73.60 automatic entry standard for this year's worlds four days after the qualifying window opened.
Rogers had raised eyebrows the previous summer with her fifth-place throw of 74.35 in the Tokyo Olympic final after demonstrating huge promise with her 2017 Pan Am U20 victory and U20 gold the following year at her first senior world championships.
Also Tuesday, Ethan Katzberg, another hammer throw standout from B.C., earned bronze in men's event.
The 21-year-old threw 76.83 on his second try, falling nearly three metres short of victorious American Rudy Winkler (79.70) and silver medallist Wojciech Nowicki of Poland (79.52).
WATCH | Katzberg approaches 77-metre throw ahead of Paris Diamond League:
Katzberg will travel to France for Friday's Meeting de Paris where he will compete in mixed hammer throw, a non-Diamond League points event. Hammer throw is the only field event not contested regularly on the professional track and field circuit.
On May 5, he set a 78.41 personal best at the Dylan Armstrong Track Classic in Kamloops, B.C., to meet the 78.00 meet standard for this year's worlds in August in Budapest, Hungary.
The six-foot-six, 235-pound Katzberg won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Track runners Robert Heppenstall and Maddy Kelly also competed in Bydgoszcz.
The Hamilton-based Heppenstall, who won each of his first two outdoor 1,500-metre races in 2023, clocked a season-best three minutes 36.41 seconds for 13 of 15 finishers, 2.21 seconds off the world standard.
WATCH l 2012 London Olympics inspired record-breaking hammer Camryn Rogers:
Italian sets men's hammer meet record
On May 6, he clocked 3:36.97 at the Sound Running Track Festival in Walnut. The 26-year-old's 3:35.17 PB was achieved last July 15.
Italy's Pietro Arese crossed the finish line in 3:33.56 for a meet record previously held by Mohamed Mohumed of Germany for the past year.
Kelly, 27, was eighth in the women's 800, stopping the clock in 2:03.25.
The 2020 Olympian and native of Pembroke, Ont., turned in a 1:59.71 PB last June at the Portland Track Festival in Oregon but hasn't broken two minutes since over seven races. The world standard is 1:59.80 for women.
The Irene Szewinska Memorial is a meet dedicated to the late Polish athletics legend who won the women's Olympic 200 in 1968 (Mexico City) and 400 event eight years later in Montreal.
She is the only athlete in history, male or female, to hold the world record in the 100, 200 and 400.
WATCH | Full event coverage of the 5th Irena Szewinska Memorial meet:
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