Camryn Rogers, Mykolas Alekna Shine in International Track & Field Events

Rogers wins the Commonwealth Games while fellow Cal grad Alekna continues his impressive comeback from injury

Camryn Rogers at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Camryn Rogers, the world’s top female hammer thrower, won her speciality at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Cal grad, who is the reigning Olympic champion, set a Commonwealth record with her winning throw of 245 feet, 9 inches (74.91 meters). The Canadian beat her nearest competitor by more than 16 feet.

Valentina Savva of Cyprus, who was ACC champion and finished eighth at the NCAA championships this spring as a Cal sophomore, wound up 10th at the Commonwealth Games. She had a best throw of 204-3 (62.27).

Rogers’ triumph at the multi-nation event followed her winning the Canadian national title for the sixth time — the fifth year in a row — in late June. Rogers threw 249-11 (76.16) to top the field by 22 feet.

A three-time NCAA champion at Cal, Rogers climbed to second on the all-time world list this spring with a throw of 266-2 (81.13).

Fellow Canadian Rowan Hamilton, who won the NCAA men’s hammer for Cal in 2025, placed third at the Commonwealth Games with a toss of 247-3  (75.36). At the Canadian nationals, Hamilton secured second place with a mark of 247-6 (75.45).

Alekna uncorks huge discus throw

World record-holder and Cal graduate Mykolas Alekna threw a season-best  238-4 (72.65m) to capture the discus at the Lithuanian championships on Saturday.

Alekna, 23, was not expected to compete this season after tearing a pectoral muscle while lifting weights in February. But he has made a stunning comeback, topping 70 meters in all three competitions he’s entered since recovering.

His mark at the Lithuanian nationals was the longest in the world in nearly 20 years outside of Ramona, Okla., which provides throwers with significant but legal favoring winds.

Alekna’s world records both in 2024 and ’25 took place at Ramona. The two longest throws in the world this year — by Australia’s Matthew Denny and Germany’s Steven Richter — also were recorded at Ramona.

Ex-Bears nab two British titles

Cal graduate Anna Purchase, 26, won her third straight British national title in the women’s hammer with a throw of 235-10 (71.88) last week. 

Georgia Hunter Bell, 32, who ran at Cal a decade ago, won the British 800 crown in a meet-record and season-best time of 1:55.93. It was the second straight national title in the two-lap event for Bell, who set the British record in the 1,500 meters while earning a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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