Olsen Wins National Championship
June 3, 2000
DURHAM, N.C. -- A remarkable two-week period found a remarkable culmination Thursday for Joachim Olsen.
The University of Idaho sophomore from Denmark won a national championship, unloading a personal- and school-record 66-foot, 5 3/4-inch throw in the men's shot put at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Duke University.
Entering the meet with the No. 3 qualifying mark, Olsen stood in fourth place heading into the fifth of his six throws. Ahead of him was favorite Janus Robberts of Southern Methodist, as well as Brigham Young's Jim Roberts and Georgia's Reese Hoffa.
"Everybody started throwing really far," Olsen said. "I was like, 'I know I can do this. I know I can beat them.' I just decided not to think too much. I had been thinking about technique. I just emptied my head. I just gave it everything I had.
"When I saw it land, I thought 'Wow.' I didn't think it would go that far."
Robberts, the defending national champion both outdoors and indoors, failed to overtake Olsen on his final throw. He fouled. Olsen's final toss went 65-8 1/4, the third-best throw of the competition.
It was the latest in a series of triumphant moments for Olsen, who had landed a berth in the Olympics two weeks ago by throwing 65-2 at the Big West Conference Championships. Denmark had given its best shot-putter a window of three meets in which to throw 64-8.
In his four NCAA indoor and outdoor meets, Olsen has placed third, third, second and first.
Thursday was was a red-letter day for UI track and field, despite some setbacks.
In addition to Olsen's win, the Vandals got a fourth-place effort from junior Katja Schreiber in the women's discus. She threw 177-3.
Her teammates Shana Ball was a nonscoring 12th at 163-6.
Senior 400-meter specialist Tawanda Chiwira couldn't overcome a nagging hamstring injury and missed the semifinals by two-tenths of a second. He ran 45.99, taking third in his heat.
Idaho sophomore sprinter Nikele Ndebele was disqualified for a false start in the 100-meter prelims.