Pickerington's Echikunwoke wins Olympic silver in women's hammer throw

PARIS (WCMH) -- After being forced to sit out the Tokyo Olympics, Annette Echinkunwoke has redemption in the form of a silver medal in the women's hammer throw.

The Pickerington North graduate's best throw came in her third attempt with a length of 75.48 meters. That led the standings until Canadian Camryn Rogers took over first place with a throw of 76.97 meters on her fifth attempt. Echikunwoke could only counter with a 73.56 meter throw on her final attempt.

The 27-year-old becomes the first American to make the podium in the women's hammer throw since the event was introduced into the Olympics at the Sydney Games in 2000.

This was Echikunwoke's second Olympic appearance but her first time competing. In 2021, she qualified for the Tokyo games while representing Nigeria. She was disqualified from competing after the African Federation of Nigeria did not set up proper drug testing with Echikunwoke citing “negligence of the federation” as a reason she couldn’t go to Tokyo. She switched her athletic allegiance to the United States afterwards.

Elsewhere at the Stade de France, Pickerington Central's McKenzie Long competed in the final of the women's 200 meters. The first-time Olympian placed seventh with a time of 22.42. Her teammates Gabby Thomas and Brittany Brown took gold and bronze respectively. Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred, the 100m winner on Saturday, won silver.

Long said after the race that she was sad, overwhelmed and relieved.

"It's been a long season," Long said. "I'm going to go home, de-stress and reflect on my season."

The three-time NCAA outdoor champion has had an emotional year after dealing with the loss of her mother in January.

"It's just been track you know," Long said. "And now I have that time to just go home and just think about her and just reminisce on all the stuff that we had."