EUGENE — Vancouver’s Kara Winger is America’s most accomplished women’s javelin thrower, a career that has spanned across three decades.
But the 36-year-old Winger, competing in her final global championship, had one more box to check.
The box was checked Friday night at Hayward Field. Winger said goodbye to championship competition in spectacular fashion, as she became the first U.S. woman to medal in javelin at the World Athletics Championships.
Winger saved her best for the final attempt, uncorking a throw of 210 feet, 1 inch to take silver medal.
It was Winger’s first-ever medal at worlds or the Olympics.
“Disbelief, but also I walked into this season very much at peace with whatever happened,” Winger said. “I’ve always known that it’s in me. To actually have it finally come through is extremely gratifying.”
Of all the places for Winger to realize her medal dreams, it had to happen at Hayward. She’s qualified for four Olympic games, and a month ago, earned a world championships berth on her final throw at the USATF championships, all at Hayward.
“It feels like I’m my truest self in this stadium,” said Winger, a 2004 graduate of Skyview High in Vancouver. “I’m two hours from my hometown. I felt like every single person in that stadium was cheering for me. Why wouldn’t I be happy about that?”
Winger took a stair-step journey to silver Friday. First, Winger had to qualify to make the final eight, which she did on her second throw, with a mark of 203-3. Winger went into finals in fourth, briefly slipping to fifth after five throws.
After her fifth throw, Winger crossed the track to talk to her husband and coach, Russ Winger. There wasn’t a lot of technical talk. It was more about encouraging and trusting her experience.
Winger was able to draw on the recent experience of being in the same situation at USATF, where it came down to the final throw for all or nothing.
“I’ve had so much experience being too hard on myself. Really, I just wanted to relax and let it happen,” Winger said. “That very recent, you-can-do-it moment was really helpful for my last throw tonight.”
Winger grabbed the javelin near the back of the runway, then urged the Hayward crowd into a rhythmic clap. With noise immediately amped up, Winger let loose with her final throw, which came to rest near the back line of grass. Winger and the crowd immediately went berserk, and seconds later they were justified when the throw was announced as 210-1.
The mark passed everyone but Australia’s Kelsey Lee-Barber, who won gold at 219-6.
Winger soon had a silver medal around her neck, and an American flag draped around her back. Winger spent 20 minutes parading around the track, a smile never leaving her face. There were autographs, pictures with fans and hugs. So many hugs. Later, Winger left the medal stand by leaping to the track, as if to state mission accomplished.
Winger has said she’s retiring after this year. She’ll compete in a few European meets later this summer, but as far as championships, Friday night was Winger’s swan song.
Winger leaves track and field having competed in four Olympics — serving as the USA flag bearer in 2021 — six worlds and with a career-best of 218-8. Along the way, there were surgeries for two ACL tears and a shoulder.
“I thought a lot about my first knee injury and maybe how it derailed my potential. What could have I done if I hadn’t had that devastating injury at 26?” Winger said.
That’s what made Friday night’s performance that much sweeter.
“I want to show younger throwers that if you stick around you can have really cool dreams come true, even if they weren’t what you originally imagined,” Winger said. “I’ve gotten so much more out of track than I ever thought I would.
“It’s not about medals. It’s about the people that I get to be competitors with, be teammates with, be coached by, and really love it all.”
— Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel
