Camryn Rogers has been on quite the ride since her last appearance on the world stage in Tokyo.
At 26, the Richmond, B.C., athlete enters the world athletics championships as the top-ranked women’s hammer thrower, holding both world and Olympic crowns. She’s the only Canadian woman to ever medal in hammer at worlds and the first to win Olympic gold in athletics since 1928.
She returns to Tokyo, the scene of her first Olympics in 2021, where she placed fifth.
“I was very young,” Rogers said. “I was the youngest finalist up there competing, and there was so much that I still didn’t know.Â
“I just feel like I’ve grown up a lot. It’s only been four years, but I feel like I’ve grown up a lot in the four years since my first Olympics, since being here. And I’m just really looking forward to seeing what those four years are like, see them come to fruition.”
She is among four Canadians defending world titles — with Ethan Katzberg (men’s hammer throw), Marco Arop (800 metres) and Pierce LePage (decathlon) — at the championships running Saturday to Sept. 21.
She has won nine of the 10 meets she competed in this season, her only loss being a second-place finish back on June 3. Since then, she has thrown 78-plus metres twice, including a personal best of 78.88 on July 5 — the second furthest throw of the year.
The last time she threw 78-plus metres in a season was when she won her first world title two years ago in Budapest, Hungary.
“Now this is a fun little trend,” she said of the statistic. “The last few years have all been very exciting in their own ways. But 2023, I was coming out of the NCAA. I was becoming a pro and travelling for the first time. There were so many firsts in that year.
“Last year with the Olympics, it was, of course, very exciting because it’s the Olympics. But I think that there can be different pressures related to it. So I feel like last year there was always … we’d be training really well, and then there would be a slight hiccup, like, ‘Oh, something’s sore … we got to rest a little bit more.’”
Rogers has adopted a new approach to rest and recovery. In past years, she competed steadily, but now she’s careful not to push too hard.
“I’m definitely someone who you have to pull out of training, because I’ll always be the person to take that extra step, which I think is a good thing,” Rogers said. “However, it can ultimately, at times, also be detrimental.Â
“I think now we’re at a nice, sweet spot where I know my body really well. I know how it’s feeling. I know where its limits are and I know when to push. But I also know when to pull back and live to fight another day. And this season has been really good for that.”
Rogers expects tough competition in Tokyo. Americans Brooke Andersen, Rachel Richeson and DeAnna Price have each thrown over 78 metres this season and rank high on the all-time list, though Rogers beat all three with her personal best in July.
“There is pressure and it for sure comes from (winning) worlds last time,” Rogers said.Â
“There’s a lot of really incredible women who are throwing very, very far. And it’s going to make for a very intense competition.Â
“But I also think that that’s where the fun is. That’s why we choose to pursue and persist in our careers and want to continue competing. And competing at a high level like this is the part of sport that you have to love. … I just want to go out there and leave it all in the circle and trust in the training that we’ve had leading up to these world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.
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