End of Season...Countdown to Beijing!

November 5, 2007
Howdy!! Wow, how things have changed the past 3 months. My last entry here was just after winning the Silver at the XV Pan American Games in Rio. Immediately after that competition, I returned home to San Diego to prepare for the 2nd half of the European season.
Much to my surprise, the Olympic Training Center (OTC) had undergone several structural changes while I was away. The largest of the changes was the ownership of the Track & Field program at the Training Center. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) assumed full control of the track and field program, removing all USA Track and Field staff from the facility. This was a very good thing for me. As a result, I was reunited with my first and former coach from 2004, Ty Sevin. Ty was appointed the director of the track & field program at the training center.
I immediately started training with my former coach and made some major adjustments to my technique and shipped off to Europe to chase the ever elusive “A” standard of 81.80m. After several meets in Belgium and Denmark throwing seasonal bests, I flew down to Huelva, Spain near Seville for my last meet of the season on September 13. It was at this meet that I had the throw of my career (to this point). I threw a lifetime best of 81.99m.
This throw ranks as the 9th farthest throw in American history and was the 27th farthest throw in the world in 2007. More importantly, it gave me the “A” standard, or automatic qualifying mark for Beijing. I am only 1 of 2 Americans to have the “A” standard mark in the last 6 years; this means that being a 2008 Olympian is virtually a lock. I am now starting the 4th week of the fall training and am in better shape than I have ever been. This is also the 1st off season for me in 3 years where I am not coming off some kind of injury of surgery.
With the 2008 season just around the corner, I have never been so excited to see the result of putting a full year under the supervision of world class coaching, world class facility’s and world class sports science. All the signs are pointing to more world class performances and representing the United States on the world’s largest stage.