Olympic Games: Katzberg hopes Rogers can lift Canada to double gold

After Ethan Katzberg won the men’s hammer throw at the Paris Olympics, it’s Camryn Rogers’ turn to go for gold in the women’s event.

The two athletes put Canada on the map as a hammer throw nation by sweeping the top of the podium at last year’s world championships in Budapest, Hungary.

They’re partway to holding up that reputation in Paris, and Katzberg is excited about what double Olympic gold could mean for the sport back home.

“It happened last year in Budapest, and then for it to happen in the Olympics, that would be incredible for hammer throw in Canada and just athletics in general,” Katzberg said Monday. “Bring some more attention to a lesser-known event in athletics. I think it’s really great for hammer throw in Canada.”

Katzberg, a 22-year-old from Nanaimo, B.C., dominated the competition Sunday with a winning throw of 84.12 metres on his first attempt. None of his opponents broke 80.

Earlier Sunday, the 25-year-old Rogers of Richmond, B.C., won her group with a throw of 74.69 metres, the second furthest throw of the day, to advance to Tuesday’s final.

Katzberg said he’s hanging around Paris for three more days to attend his medal ceremony Monday night, watch the Canadian men’s basketball team play France in the quarterfinals Tuesday and cheer on Rogers in the women’s hammer throw.

“She looks like she’s in good shape. Every time she competes, she looks like she was born for that,” Katzberg said of the top-ranked Rogers. “She’s an incredible competitor, I wish her all the best for her competition. Qualifying looked easy. I’m really excited to watch that.”

Before the Paris Games, Canada had never won gold in the hammer throw and spent over a century off the podium.

Katzberg’s medal was the country’s first in the event since Duncan Gillis earned silver at the 1912 Stockholm Games.

Rogers said earlier this summer that Canada’s sudden rise in the sport isn’t a fluke.

“Things like this don’t just happen,” Rogers said at the Canadian track and field trials in June. “To look back at all of the amazing athletes who have come before us and laid the groundwork to have the support that we do now, the passion and the interest and the excitement that we do around throwing, I mean, it takes years of work and planning.”

“We have some of the best athletes of all time competing in our events at this very moment,” she added. “To showcase that, to have people be paying attention and know what’s going on and be excited for us, like what more could you ask for going to the Olympic Games?”

In a world of athletics where events like the 100-metre dash garner most of the public’s attention, Katzberg is glad he and Rogers can shine a spotlight on the niche sport of hammer throw.

“It gets the conversation going, and to have two top-level athletes in both the men and the women’s competitions is really exciting to see, and it doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “We’re coming up at the same time, it’s really great to share that with her.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2024.