Less than 24 hours after his dream of Olympic competition came to a sudden end at Beijing’s National Stadium, American javelin thrower Mike Hazle was still filled with a mix of emotions.
“We’ll be trying to figure out what happened for the next few years,” Hazle said Thursday night, one day after posting a disappointing qualifying-round result and failing to make the final. “But the next competition I get to, if there is dry weather, my throws could be massive. I have a lot of emotions to take out on the javelin.”
Hazle, a multi-sport standout at Temple High School, who graduated in 1997, was in the midst of a breakout season when he headed for Beijing. He had recorded a career-best throw of 82.21 meters earlier this year in Doha, Qatar, and had crested the 80-meter mark at seven meets this season.
But in intermittent drizzle at National Stadium, things went awry. He followed a foul on his first attempt with throws of 72.75 and 71.69, leaving him about 7 meters short of the distance needed to qualify for the 12-man final.
“The wet conditions were pretty bad, but everybody had to throw in the same thing,” said Hazle, who finished 25th in the 38-competitor qualifying round. “Going in, I felt better than I have ever felt. I was ready - maybe even too ready, if that’s possible.
“I hit those second and third throws harder than any in my life, and both felt like 85-meter throws. Then I would look up, and they were spinning out of control.”
Hazle, who as of Thursday hadn’t reviewed his performance on video, said he didn’t know if the extra power affected his technique or if - because he was the last thrower in the last qualifying group - his javelins had become waterlogged in the rain.
“It could be a number of factors, but my coach said it actually looked like (my javelins) were flying upside-down at times,” he said.
So after watching his throws chart a different course than he planned, the Texas State graduate with a master’s degree in sports management could have done the same.
He could have called it quits for his athletic career, but that isn’t the case at all. Instead, he says, Wednesday’s result and the mystery of why it occurred will serve as fuel in preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London.
“When I left the stadium, I felt sick,” he explained. “I literally threw up in a trash can because I was so disgusted with how it went.
“That’s what I’m going to remember most - all of those feelings I had after that last throw, and they’re all bad.”
Hazle will remain in Beijing through the closing ceremonies, then compete at meets in Estonia, Latvia, Moscow, Italy, Slovenia and Korea through the end of September.
“Strangely enough, and this might not make much sense to some people, but probably the best thing that could have happened to me is not doing well,” he said. “If I had made the final, I would have walked away satisfied.
“That sense of complacency is the worst thing that can happen. Instead, I wanted to start training that very evening.”
