Myrtle Beach's Amber Campbell came up just short in reaching the finals of the women's hammer throw in the Olympics at London. In her second Olympic competition, Campbell finished 13th overall, one spot short of competing in Friday's finals for a medal. Her best throw of 69.93 meters was a mere .55 meters short of reaching the final twelve and the chance to compete for a medal on Friday night at London's Olympic Stadium. Campbell was the top American finisher.
Olympic women's hammer throw qualifying results
Campbell threw in Group A on Wednesday morning with three throws to qualfy for Friday night's six throw finals. Her first attempt hit the net, resulting in a foul. Her second throw measured 69.93 meters which put her into fifth place in Group A. Her final throw was 67.73 meters. Amber sat in fifth place in her group until the end, when Great Britian's Sophie Hitchon set a national record with a throw of 71.98 meters. Campbell finished Group A in sixth place and had to wait through 19 athletes in Group B to see if she could qualify in the top 12 and reach the finals.
Group B saw Campbell fall from sixth to the last qualifying spot of #12 after the first round of throws. The second round of throws in Group B still had Campbell sitting on the final qualifying spot of 12th. In the third and final round, Campbell was four throws away from competing for a medal, but Aksana Mionkova of Belarus, the 2008 gold medalist, threw 73.10 meters to knock Campbell out of the finals.
Campbell finished 21st in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, finishing 9th in her flight. She threw 67.86 meters in her first Olympiad. She won the US Olympic Trials with a throw of 71.8 meters.
Amber has provided daily updates from the London Olympics for WPDE Sports and CarolinaLive.com. Coming up tonight on NewsChannel 15 at 6pm, Campbell will give us her reaction to her second Olympic competition.
