Adam Keenan at an Athletics Canada meet earlier this month in Kamloops. He won the national championship over the weekend, but fell short of Olympic standard (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

CANADIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

‘I’m not ready to give this up’: Keenan looking ahead to next Olympics after missing hammer standard

Jun 28, 2021 | 5:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — Adam Keenan’s dreams of competing at an Olympic Games will have to wait another three years — for Paris 2024.

Keenan failed to make Olympic standard in the Canadian hammer throw final on Saturday. Missing the Olympics was discouraging for the 27-year-old.

“A bit discouraging is a bit of an understatement,” Keenan told CFJC Today from his home in Victoria. “Practices have been going better than they ever have before. I’ve been throwing personal bests in practice. Physically, I’ve been feeling better than I’ve ever felt. The timing of the weather conditions was really unfortunate. I think everybody in the competition was affected a little bit, which explains the huge drop off that everyone seems to have.”

The heavy rain in Montreal over the weekend wrecked havoc for every competitor. Keenan, who trains part-time in Kamloops with Anatoliy Bondarchuk, achieved great things at the Canadian Olympic Trials, winning another national title with a 72.87 metre throw.

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“I’m super grateful to have won,” he said. “It’s my fourth national title. It obviously wasn’t the result I was looking for, but to be the best in the country at something is a huge honour and I’m pleased with that.”

Keenan was about less than five metres short of the Olympic standard for hammer, which is 77.50 metres.

His closest competitor was Ethan Katzberg, a junior hammer thrower competing for the first time in the senior class. Katzberg, who’s from Nanaimo but trains full-time in Kamloops with Dylan Armstrong, captured the silver medal with a throw of 64.21 metres in Montreal.

“It feels pretty good, right. You’re competing with everyone. You’re the youngest guy there. Obviously, the competition level is way up. Everyone there is there to compete. They’ve been doing national meets for a few years now, and this is my first nationals meet,” said Katzberg. “I wanted to come in and prove I can compete at their level.”

Katzberg did just that. Now that he’s got a taste of a bigger stage, it’s a motivating factor in getting that much better moving forward.

“Definitely gives me motivation. It’s a step in the right direction and there’s definitely more to come after nationals,” he said.

Katzberg will be back in Kamloops next week, preparing for the provincial championships in the city July 24-25. Katzberg is then off to Kenya for the 2021 World Junior Track and Field Championships in August.

For Keenan, the disappointment of not making the Olympic team will sit with him for a little while, but he has his eyes on Paris 2024.

“I’m not ready to give this up,” noted Keenan. “It’s a huge disappointment that I didn’t make the Olympic team, but I love this, I’m passionate about it, and to me that’s a good enough reason to continue.”