Warming up for the final round of the Olympic hammer throw trials, DeAnna Price sought the important balance between loose and stiff that allows for the similarly critical combination of grace and power.
Price鈥檚 second practice throw reflected a measure of success as she approached her American record with a throw of 78 meters. Her body said otherwise.
The pop she heard was her sacroiliac joint signaling that she had crossed the line.
鈥淚n the hammer throw, you have to be between a ballerina and power,鈥 Price said. 鈥淵ou need a certain stiffness for stability. I haven鈥檛 had my S.I. joint go out in a long time. I was at a point that I was worried.鈥
Being well versed in competing with injuries, the native of Moscow Mills fought through her discomfort to finish second in the trials and qualify for her third Olympics. Her misfortune turned out to be less significant than that of other top U.S. throwers, who did not advance.
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Price鈥檚 best throw in Eugene, Oregon, two weeks ago of 74.52 meters was well off the distance she鈥檒l likely need to become the first U.S. woman in that event to win a medal in the Olympics. Get back to that practice throw of 78, and she鈥檒l challenge.
After what she鈥檚 been through, Price is willing to take any steps necessary to be prepared. While dealing with a partial tear of her hip labrum in 2021, she broke an ankle before the Olympics but did not withdraw.
鈥淢y body is the No. 1 priority, physically and mentally, this time,鈥 she said after returning home to Champaign, Illinois. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my third Olympics, and I鈥檝e been through the ringer.鈥
After the pop, Price felt her muscles tighten. Flexibility on her left side was limited and rotation was restricted. Her expectation was that it would take a 76-meter throw to make the team. She opened with a 74.
Meanwhile, two of the other three expected Olympic qualifiers were struggling with fouls and short throws. Price鈥檚 opening distance ended up being good enough.
鈥淓veryone had an off day and it happens,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut I have not seen something like that in 10 years where everything was just not aligning. It was a crazy meet.鈥
Dealing with injury
Price immediately sought medical aid and had the joint popped into place. She alternately soaked in ice and heat baths. Then came the dry needling, a treatment that involved several sessions with each including about 25 needles sunk into her body to the bone.
On her flight from Oregon to Chicago, she used a device to shoot 鈥渟hock waves鈥 into her leg and a second contraption to help with join inflammation.
鈥淚t might be overkill, but I鈥檓 not taking any chances,鈥 she said.
After the 4陆-hour flight, she was stuck on the plane, along with her husband and coach J.C. Lambert, for 90 minutes until they could disembark. Then came the drive to Champaign and six weeks of final preparation.
Price has been throwing since her freshman year at Troy High, where a classmate convinced her to try the hammer throw at her family鈥檚 farm. In the middle of nowhere was a field and throwing circle known as the Throw for the Road Hammer Club.
There, she met Gary Cooper and his son, Brian, both of whom worked with her from the early days to learn proper technique. It started with a bump on the forehead and a throw of 18 meters.
鈥淚 persisted because you could just see the talent this young lady held,鈥 Gary Cooper said. 鈥淪he was ferocious and a contender in the making. 鈥 What I saw in DeAnna back that first month was an athlete that could go to the Olympics. She just had the kind of courageous talent, extreme drive and body awareness when she was doing her hammer turns.鈥
The long road
Price could have played college softball. She boasted the kind of power with a bat that eventually translated well to her field events. She went to Southern Illinois University Carbondale, met her husband and realized the potential Cooper saw.
Along the way came the constant pitfalls. She overcame ligament damage in her left knee to win the college outdoor championship in the hammer in 2015. A gluten allergy led to health issues for a while.
Then came the injuries before the 2021 Olympics 鈥 a broken fibula, torn tendons and a fractured talus bone. Still, she finished eighth in Tokyo.
鈥淚 have all the power in the world, and power saved me (at trials),鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 finding I have technical issues developed in 2022 due to my ankle and hip surgery. Now it鈥檚 about anchoring down the technical aspects and replicating each throw to perfection. There鈥檚 a big throw in there, and I鈥檓 excited about getting it to come out.鈥
Price said this likely will be her final Olympics. She is a volunteer assistant at Illinois, where her husband is the throws coach. She wants a family and to have more time to visit others, including her parents, who supported her athletic endeavors.
Price has set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for her mother and father to make the trip to Paris, where women鈥檚 hammer throw competition begins on Aug. 4. They deserve a lot of credit for her accomplishments, she said. A lot also goes to the Coopers.
Mostly, it is Price who has persevered to continue throwing with the best in the world at 31 when others might have surrendered.
鈥淒etermination is attitude,鈥 Gary Cooper said. 鈥淎n athlete can be talented and strong and explosively quick. But attitude 鈥 not all of them have that.鈥