May 18, 2012
Jill Camarena-Williams, a volunteer assistant coach on the Arizona men's and women's track and field teams, has her eye on making another U.S. Olympic team this summer.
She earned her spot on Team USA in 2008 and threw in Beijing, China. She finished in 12th place with a throw of 59-10.25 (18.24m).
However, the fact that Camarena-Williams even made the team is a remarkable feat. Just a few months prior to the Olympic Trials, Camarena-Williams had surgery in her back to repair a herniated disc.
"It was hard to even sit down, to even move," Camarena-Williams said. "I had to keep moving around until I found a comfortable position, but even then I was in pain. I've had back problems since I was in college and even before. When I was at Stanford I saw at doctor and he asked me, `how long do you plan on doing this?' I at least wanted to finish college."
Camarena-Williams graduated from Stanford in 2004 after earning six All-American honors and three Pac-10 titles. She won the USA Indoor Championship each year from 2005 to 2008 before needing surgery.
Camarena-Williams credits her husband and current athletic trainer for the UA track and field team, Dustin Williams for helping her to get through surgery.
"Dustin (Williams) started working on me every day during the Olympic Trials," Camarena-Williams said. "He was one of the main reasons I made that team."
In 2008, Camarena-Williams finished third at the Olympic Trials with a throw of 59-5.5 (18.12m). She fully recovered from the surgery and was able to train consistently under UA assistant coach Craig Carter.
In 2010, Camarena-Williams won the USA Outdoor Championship with a throw of 62-9.25 (19.13m). She became known as the best shot putter in the country, and one of the best in the world.
In 2011, she set the American indoor record with a throw of 65-2.25 (19.89m) and tied the American outdoor record, throwing 66-2.5 (20.18m). At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Camarena-Williams became the first woman in U.S. history to medal in the shot put at the World Championships. She earned a bronze medal with her throw of 65-8.25 (20.02m).
During the 2012 indoor season, Camarena-Williams beat her own U.S. record, throwing 65-3.25 (19.89m) at the USA Track and Field Classic in Fayetteville, Ark. Her mark is a personal best, a meet record and a Randal Tyson Track Center facility record. Now, in the outdoor season, Camarena-Williams is currently ranked as the No. 3 thrower in the world and No. 1 in the U.S. with a mark of 65-0 (19.81m).
She is confident that she will make Team USA again for the Olympics, but she knows anything can happen.
"We have the preliminary round on one day and then come back and throw the finals the next day," Camarena-Williams said. "It's difficult. There is no such thing as a `lock for the Olympics' because all it takes one bad day at the Olympic Trials and that's it."
Should she make the Olympics, Camarena-Williams feels that she would have an advantage over the competition, as she was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee to be on the medical staff at the Olympic Games for the track and field athletes.
"How many athletes will be able to say that (their husband or wife as their trainer) at the Olympics?" Camarena-Williams said. "Maybe one other person, maybe just me. So having him there is going to be a huge advantage."
Having her husband there will not provide any additional pressure for Camarena-Williams. She sees him as her biggest supporter, regardless of how successful she may or may not be a certain day.
"It gives me joy no matter how she does," Dustin Williams said. "Because of the effort she puts in, no matter what the outcome is, we've learned a lot of wonderful things that we'll take with us."
Camarena-Williams looks forward to the grind of the Olympic Trials and knows it will take a special performance for her to advance.
"You wake up at 5:30 a.m. and get yourself ready to throw," Camarena-Williams said. "Then you finish and you go home and take a nap for a few hours, then you have to wake up and do the same thing all over again. It's hard. To throw your very best under those circumstances is hard. But it also is advantageous in a way, because you don't have a day or two to stress and get nervous about the final. It's all done in one day; you can relax and have fun after that."
Camarena-Williams has been successful at every level in her career and she plans on continuing that trend at the Olympics this summer.
