8/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
15th IAAF World Championships: Website | Hammer Throw Results (Final)
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV track & field alumna Amanda Bingson finished ninth overall at the 15th IAAF World Championships at the Bird's Nest (Beijing Olympic Stadium) in Beijing. Bingson unleashed a season-best throw of 237-4 (72.35m) on her first attempt, which placed her as high as seventh through one round of competition. Unfortunately, the Las Vegas native's second toss only measured 225-11 (68.86m), while she faulted on the third.
Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk entered the finals in first place after she threw a distance of 246-1 (75.01m) - on her first and only attempt - in the qualification rounds. Wlodarczyk, who became the first woman to crack the 262-5 (80.00m) barrier when she threw a world-record mark of 266-0 (81.08m) earlier this month, opened Thursday's finale with a 244-1 (74.40m) and she only got better in her three subsequent throws. Her fourth toss of 265-3 (80.85m) was a Championships record and it sealed her second IAAF World Championship victory - the first since she won the crown in 1999 (Berlin).
Rounding out the top three in the event were China's Wenxiu Zhang (250-5/76.33m) and France's Alexandra Tavernier (242-10/74.02m)
This was the fourth instance that Bingson has represented the United States. After she claimed three straight Mountain West titles from 2010-12, she became a regular on Team USA with participation at the 2012 London Olympics, 14th IAAF World Championships in Moscow (2013) and 2014 IAAF Continental Cup (Marrakech, Morocco).
The Silverado High School product initially finished second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials before she won back-to-back titles at the USATF Outdoor Championships the next two years. En route to those victories, Bingson broke a pair of stadium records (Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa and Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.) and rewrote the America record book with a mark of 248-5 (74.92m).
