Amy Haapanen’s decades-long athletic career has had its share of ups and downs, but one thing has remained constant — she can throw heavy objects really far.
Last month, she represented Team USA in the World Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Gainsville, Florida and came away with two gold medals earned with record-breaking marks in the women’s 40-44 division.
As long as she has competed in the hammer throw, the now-41-year-old Haapanen had never previously been part of an indoor meet. She even added an unfamiliar event to her lengthy résumé — the weigh throw.
“I thought, ‘Why not do an event going in with zero expectations, and balance it out with an event where I have a million expectations?” Haapanen said. “It was also an experiment to see how my body would react — I wanted to test myself. It ended up being successful and a lot fun.”
In October of 2017, the East Union High and UC Santa Barbara alumna sustained a traumatic rappelling accident that left her with serious head and spine injuries that still affect her today. Haapanen’s comeback included a record-setting performance in the USA Track & Field Masters Outdoor Championships and another first-place finish in the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden.
On Monday, March 24 — the day after her birthday — the weight throw provided Haapanen a new challenge. She got surprising results despite taking just one warm-up throw. In fact, she had never previously held the 20-pound object that resembles a kettlebell.
“It’s very heavy,” Haapenen said. “During warmups, I only took one throw, and in the rest of my warmups I just did some drills in the ring. One of the girls asked me, ‘Why aren’t you taking any throws?’ And I was like, ‘Because this thing is really heavy, and I don’t’ want to use up all my energy in the warmups.”
Good call.
Her worst throw in the event would have still been good for first place. Her best landed at 16.13 meters (52 feet, 11 inches), a new meet record. Maria Sløk was a distant second place at 13.57 meters (44-06 ¼).
The previous record of 15.23 meters was set in 2004 by Ingrid van Dikj of Netherlands.
“It’s shorter, and you can build up speed easier,” Haapanen said. It’s like all the other throwing events; it’s explosive and takes a lot of power and strength. Tying it all together takes some good execution.
“When I got the big throw (on her second attempt), every throw after that, I tried to put more mustard on it, but my body got more and more tired from the lack of training for the event. I would have had more endurance if I had trained, but there was some validation for how I warmed up. I’m glad I conserved my energy for the competition, and it was cool to strategize and listen to my body while trying something new.”
Fun fact: The last time Haapanen tried a new event was her freshman year at UCSB — the hammer throw. An NCAA All-American, Haapanen still holds the school record in the event, and she was once a contender to make the USA Olympic team.
“Since junior high, I’ve done the 100, 200, 4x100, long jump, triple jump, shot and discus and the javelin,” she said. “It was cool to have that feeling again. There are so many events I have done before at some level, and it was fun to reignite those feelings of discovery and newness.”
As for the more-familiar hammer throw, nothing new there. She won with a toss of 56.88 meters (186 feet, 7 inches) on March 26. And like in the weight throw, all of her attempts in the hammer were better than the runner-up’s best.
“It was fun to be able to wear the USA jersey while doing that,” Haapanen said. “And it being in Florida, that’s home on home turf. I’m happy to represent and bring home and defend the title for USA. It’s a special experience to be able to wear the USA jersey.”
