Nothing better than being back in Eugene, Oregon and competing at the Prefontaine Classic. It has been almost two years since I moved out of Eugene, a place I called home. Not much has changed and especially not the amazing fans!

After last week’s personal best in Tucson, Arizona I was invited to the only American stop on the Diamond League circuit; the Prefontaine Classic. I was a home town favorite despite having the lowest personal best.

The top athletes all over the world were coming to the meet. Best way to describe it is a miniature preview of the Olympic final. Big names in the javelin like Julius Yego, Olympic Champion Keshorn Walcott, and Diamond league leader Thomas Röhler were just a few to name in my event.

My goals were simple: be technical, have fun, stay healthy, and compete to make finals.

My plan was to duplicate my mental state and events of the week prior, in hopes to duplicate the results from the week prior (83.83m PB).

In 2012 I learned a valuable lesson at the Prefontaine Classic. I was throwing in warm-ups next to Vadims Vasilevskis. He made the remark, “Two of your throws equal one of mine.” I had the choice to throw harder in warm-ups to prove I belonged in the tough field, or keep warming up as usual. I kept my cool, stuck to my game plan, and warmed up just as usual. I knew winning warm-ups wouldn’t help me throw far in the meet.

I took that knowledge into this meet. Other athletes warmed up at 82m on the runway (planting on the line). Meanwhile I was slowly building up my throws from 60m to about 78m on my last warm-up throw.

I was the first thrower and I wanted to start it off with a bang. Run fast, hit the hip, and have no fear!

78.21m (256’7”) on my first throw. I was happy but not satisfied until I made the finals. After the first round I was sitting in third behind Yego at 84.68m and Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic) at 80.89m.

My second throw was just 74.90m I knew when it landed that it wasn’t farther than my first, but after my personal best last week, I wanted to see all my throws. I gritted my teeth and walked off the runway, I really wanted to scratch the throw from the records books.

After two rounds I dropped down to fifth and I knew I needed to go big the third round or it would be my last.

The new Diamond League format says only the top four athletes make finals and get three more throws. It saves about 12 minutes on the field events, but cuts our opportunities to improve our marks and place. It’s a huge change to the field events that just isn’t fair. I saw athletes getting lapped the night before, but would they ever pull runners out of races that are in the back of the pack?

I increased my speed into my block and did the best I could, but when the javelin fell short of the 81m line in the field. I knew I wouldn’t be getting three more throws. I waved to the crowd, happy for their support, and happy to be there, and began to cheer on my competitors.

My hotel roommate was Ihab Abdel Rahman, a large Egyptian javelin thrower who slept most of the two days that I was in town, threw 84.06m in the second round, just behind Yego. They seemed to be the only two athletes able to hit a solid block on the track that day.

Finally in the fifth round Ihab threw 87.37m (286’8”) to take the lead and set a new Stadium record at Hayward Field. Yego had a couple bad throws straight into the air that he scratched and the meet was over.

Watch the top three javelin throws at the Prefontaine Classic

I walked away happy and disappointed. A few weeks ago I was a 75m thrower coming off of a torn labrum and rotator cuff from my 2014 season. If you omit my Tucson results you could say I had a pretty good meet at the Prefontaine Classic. Something to be happy about. And I will take that small victory. Not every day you throw a personal best.

But I walked away just one position out of finals and that frustrates me. That makes me want to be better. I am excited for that feeling. We all need to get beat to realize how hard we need to work to win. I am going to go back home to put in a solid training block, work hard, and come back ready to compete with the best in the world.

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