Purdue grad Kara Winger's staying power is her super power
Kara Winger is not in the Purdue pantheon with Rick Mount, Glenn Robinson, Ray Ewry, David Boudia or the quarterbacks. Nor is she among American track and field greats such as Wilma Rudolph, Jackie Joyner-Kersee or Allyson Felix.
Winger’s imprint is different. She speculates that two surgeries on her ACL, plus one on her left (non-throwing) shoulder, prevented her from realizing potential in the javelin.
Yet Winger has achievements none of the above can match. In field events, no other American woman has ever been on top so long — national championships 14 years apart, 2008 and 2022.
More:Track and field tries to expand reach by holding World Championships in USA for first time
“And maybe that is what my legacy is, that consistency and that ability to have an American presence internationally, even if it’s not what my hopes and dreams were made of,” she said. “Even if I could have, ultimately, thrown farther without that first injury.
Got back up, over and over
“I’m extremely proud I’ve gotten back up, over and over and over again. I really love the atmosphere of it. I love the international women who throw the javelin far. I’m going to miss those Rose Garden wine chats just as much as being on the runway and feeling powerful and strong, throwing the javelin.”
Winger, 36, has said this season is her last. After making a fourth Olympic team last year, she might have stayed clear of the spear . . . but the lure of finishing in her native Pacific Northwest was too strong.
If the Vancouver, Wash., native can throw as far as she did last month — 210 feet, 10 inches, fourth in the world this year — she can be in the medal mix at Eugene, Ore., in the first World Championships ever held in the United States. Qualifying is Wednesday and the final Friday at Hayward Field, where she had her season best at the USA Championships.
'I'm really proud of myself
“To have my own magic Hayward moment on my last throw at my last national championships, that is the best closure I could get from this whole experience,” Winger said. “No matter what happens at worlds, I’m extremely happy and I’m really proud of myself for showing up for one more season.”
She introduced herself to the national scene when she exceeded 200 feet for the first time in 2008, throwing 202-0 as a Purdue junior to win the Big Ten title at Champaign, Ill. She subsequently won the Olympic Trials also at Eugene, and was on her way to Beijing.
Two years laster, she set an American record of 218-8 in the USA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa. Twelve years later, that remains her best. Winger has made two world finals – eighth in 2015, fifth in 2019 – and won Pan American Games gold and silver medals.
So it is not as if she has no international resume.
She was diligent during the COVID-19 shutdown, refining technique using a home contraption made by her husband, retired thrower Russell Winger. Winger had a workout partner, close friend Ariana Ince, in Colorado Springs, Colo. When the two did throw, they did so in an empty park.
“I actually loved training in the pandemic,” Winger said. “I felt really good training at my house.”
Her first ACL injury came at the 2012 Olympic Trials, and she was hurt again in August 2020. She could have retired but made it to the Tokyo Olympics, where she was U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
She lamented she never made “that big jump.” She did persevere.
“That was part of my mission in coming back this year,” she said. “Show people you can throw for a really long time, if you love it, if you take care of the details, if you honor the journey more than the results. And I hope that remains true.”
In a post-javelin career, Winger will continue working for Parity, founded in 2020. The company strives to close the gender pay gap for elite women’s athletes.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Oregon22: Kara Winger's super power is her staying power in javelin
