Hamilton Advances To First Olympic Hammer Final

Rowan Hamilton improved his personal best by two feet to become the No. 3 men’s hammer thrower in Canadian history.

OLY8/2/2024 3:00 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Grad Posts No. 3 Canadian Mark; Morikawa, An Improve Standings In Stroke Play

 PARIS – The California Golden Bears fielded eight athletes across five sports Friday at the 2024 Olympic Games, headlined by reigning NCAA champion Rowan Hamilton and his standout qualifying performance in the men’s hammer preliminary.
 
Track & Field (Athletics)
Rowan Hamilton (Canada), who won the 2024 NCAA men’s hammer title in June to cap off his outstanding collegiate career, made his Olympic debut at the Stade de France on Friday in stunning fashion with a new personal best to move up to No. 3 in Canadian history and hit the automatic qualifying mark for the final. His first throw, originally ruled a foul but overturned after protest, sailed 76.97m (252-6) – just short of the auto-Q standard of 77.00m (252-7); after a long sector foul in his second attempt, Hamilton closed out his day by launching the hammer 77.78m (255-2) – a huge personal best of 0.60m, or two feet – to clinch the win in his section and record the second-highest mark overall behind fellow Canadian Ethan Katzberg’s 79.93m (262-3). The men’s hammer final is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. PT on Sunday.
 
Rising redshirt senior Caisa-Marie Lindfors (Sweden), who owns Cal’s women’s discus record, made her own Olympic debut on Friday with a best throw of 59.29m (194-6) to finish 12th in her flight and 27th overall.
 
Men’s Golf
Both Collin Morikawa (United States) and Byeong Hun An (South Korea) acquitted themselves well at Le Golf National for Round 2 of individual stroke play, both shooting 3-under 68. Morikawa moved up 10 places into a tie for 19th overall with a two-day total of 138, earning birdies on holes 5, 6, 9 and 16. An advanced 18 places into a tie for 30th and a two-day total of 140; likewise, he also shot birdies on holes 5 and 6 in addition to those on holes 11 and 12. Morikawa and An will commence round 3 at midnight PT on Saturday.
 
Women’s Water Polo
Kindred Paul and Emma Wright represented Canada in a Group A match with Australia, falling 7-10 despite Wright’s team-high three goals. Wright first scored with 5:58 left in the third…