by Larry Eder
(Photo courtesy of Victah Sailer, Photorun.net)
Adam Nelson, is shown here disrobing (well, taking off a warm up t-shirt, but please try and follow my thought process) before his final throw at the Millrose Games 2009. The crowd is clapping, and Nelson has worked himself into a frenzy. Nelson’s competitor, Christian Cantwell, on his final throw, just seconds before, leaped into the lead, by one a one half inches, over Reese Hoffa. 67-5 to 67-2 1/2!
You never, ever know in track & field, how an event is going to end, until a) the race is over, or b) in field events, until the last throw in the last round has been recorded, just ask Adam Nelson! Nelson wound himself up, as tight as he could. When he lunleashed a huge throw…
in the final throw of the fourth round, Adam Nelson uncoiled that intensity and hit 20.79 meters, or 68-2 1/4. Christian Cantwell had been detrhoned as king of the shot at the Millrose Games! Adam Nelson had take the win, in front and center. It was just the perfect way to start off 2009, after 2008 and 2007!
In 2007, with school, injuries and such, Adam Nelson got about “three good weeks of
training in 2007, right after the nationals!”. From that, he took the silver in the world championships in Osaka.
In 2008, lots of things went wrong. While Adam made the team, his injury before Beijing-just before the opening of the Beijing shot put, took the quality out of his throwing. Tearing or rupturing muscles in his rib cage, Nelson just winced through his first three throws, fouls and he was out of the medal category for good!
” I feel great now!”, Adam told me after his win at Millrose, ” I am training well, my health is good! ”
Adam Nelson will take off a week, then on February 13, he will compete in Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and then return to Boston on March 1 for the USA Indoors!
” My training is going well. I am ready to throw. I was just a little off my timing tonight.”
But watch out for Tyson!
The shot put has become, over the past decade, one of the premier events in track & field again, indoors and out. This is due to several reasons: the great throwers, from Adam Nelson, Christian Cantwell, Reese Hoffa and Dan Taylor, to the recently retired, or nearly retired John Godina. It has to do with meet directors focusing on the event. Mark Wetmore and Rich Kenah indoor have promoted the event for years, as did Howard Schmertz. Kudos to Paul Banta at the old adidas Oregon Track Classic, where the shot was center stage for 1,500 die hard fans each year!
For more on our sport, please click : http://www.american-trackandfield.com
Special thanks to Victah Sailer from Photorun.net.
