DeAnna Price heads to 2020 Olympics
07/24/2021 | 2:36:00 | Track and Field
Saluki faithful gathered at Banterra Center Friday night to send their well-wishes to two-time Olympic hammer thrower DeAnna Price prior to her departure to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games.
The top-ranked hammer thrower in the world, Price and her coach/husband, SIU throws coach J.C. Lambert, will have a week to adjust to the time zone change as well as acclimate to their new surroundings before the competition begins on August 1. One of only two women to ever throw over 80-meters, Price is the favorite to win the event in a field that features back-to-back gold medalist Anita Wlodarczyk from Poland. Wlodarczyk had an unprecedented reign over the competition in which she became the only woman ever to win five combined Olympic and world titles in a track and field event from 2012-2016, but has yet to crack 80-meters this season. Price's next closest competitor is her teammate Brooke Anderson, who ranks second in the world at 78.18m.Â
A U.S. woman has never finished in the top five of an Olympic hammer throw competition, which debuted at worlds in 1999 and the Olympics in 2000. In 2019, Price became the first American, male or female, to medal in the event on the world championship stage with her win at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Even with her success and her increased public profile, Price remains overjoyed with the support that she receives from the southern Illinois region that she has called home for almost 10 years.
"Being a Saluki means everything to me," Price said fighting back tears during an interview with KFSV12's Adam King.   "I've been here since 2011 and I was able to meet my husband here. I was able to grow, not only in athletics but as a family. As a community, this is home for me. When I saw everyone lining up, it just adds to the reason why I want to keep doing this and why I love to do it."
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Just caught up with DeAnna Price to talk about her special Saluki sendoff to Tokyo.
— Adam King (@AdamKingKFVS12) July 24, 2021
The tears were flowing as so many @SIUSalukis fans cheered her on heading to the Olympics and going for a gold medal. pic.twitter.com/3PoXUD1RMC
Saluki Hall of Fame hammer thrower Gwen Berry will also vie for a place on the medal stand after she took third at the U.S. Olympics Trials. Shot putter Raven Saunders, who won two NCAA titles as a Saluki in 2015 before transferring to Ole Miss, will compete for Team USA on July 30. Meanwhile, Shafiqua Maloney, who was an eight-time MVC Champion in her two seasons at SIU before transferring to Arkansas, was the flag bearer for St. Vincent and the Grenadines during Friday's opening ceremony. She will run the 800-meter on July 29. Maloney, who originally fell short of the Olympic standard time, benefited from the lone Universality Place awarded by World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The track and field portion of the 2020 Olympics begins on on July 30. The qualifying rounds for the Women's Hammer Throw will begin on August 1. The finals for the event will take place on August 3.