Cal Alums Camryn Rogers and Anna Purchase Reach Hammer Throw Final at Worlds

Both the world-recordholder and reigning World champion were sidelined during qualifying.

Qualifying in the women’s hammer throw on Wednesday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest was equal parts who advanced and who did not.

Both former Cal athletes— Camryn Rogers of Canada and Anna Purchase of England — were among the top-12 in qualifying and will compete Thursday for places on the medal stand.

Camryn Rogers

Photo by Kirby Lee, USA Today

Rogers, the collegiate record-holder, won a silver medal at Worlds last summer in Eugene, Oregon, after competing at the Tokyo Olympics the year before. This is the first World Championship meet for Purchase, who completed her collegiate eligibility last spring, and she is making the most of it.

But two of the event’s biggest names were sidelined in qualifying.

Three-time Olympic champion and world-recordholder Anita Włodarczyk, 38, of Poland, wound up 13th and will not advance. She threw 233 feet, 6 inches (71.17) — more than 38 feet off her world standard.

Perhaps a bigger shock was the ouster of reigning World champ Brooke Andersen, 28, of the United States. She fouled on her first two attempts before producing a legal throw of just 222-2 (67.72) to finish 25th place. Her mark was her poorest of the season by 25 feet and nearly 41 feet off her personal best of 263-0 (80.17), which ranks No. 3 on the all-time list.

Rogers, 24, needed just two attempts to attain the automatic qualifying standard of 73.00 meters. She threw 242-7 (73.95) to place fourth among qualifiers. Rogers’ personal best is 257-11 (78.62), which places her No. 5 in the all-time world rankings.

Anna Purchase

Photo by Kirby Lee, USA Today

Purchase, 23, threw 233-11 (71.31) — the third-best mark of her career on a day when she beat Włodarczyk, the hammer’s greatest female thrower ever. Purchase logged a personal best of 239-7 (73.02) earlier this year.

The top qualifier was Hanna Skydan, 31, of Azerbajian, who delivered a personal-best throw of 252-11 (77.10), which elevates her to 14th on the all-time world list. Skydan was fifth at the 2017 World Championships.

The No. 2 qualifier was American record-holder DeAnna Price, who throw 250-2 (76.25) on her only attempt to advance. The 2019 World champ, Price sits at No. 2 on the all-time list at 263-6 (80.31).

No. 3 was 20-year-old Silja Kosonen of Finland, the U20 world champion in 2021,  who had a personal-best throw of 243-5 (74.19).

American Janee’ Kassanavoid, 28, the bronze medalist last summer in Eugene, qualified eighth at 238.6 (72.70).

Cover photo of Camryn Rogers, left, and Anna Purchase as Cal teammates by Don Gosney

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo