Renton High grad will throw discus in her third Olympics this summer

If Aretha Thurmond has taught her competitors anything, it’s that you should never underestimate a mother.

A year after giving birth to her first child Thurmond won the discus event at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Her toss of 213 feet, 11 inches was nearly three feet off of her personal best and good enough to take the win by over seven feet at the event on June 27, in Eugene, Ore. With her first place finish, the Renton High alumna qualified for the summer Olympics in Beijing, China – her third Olympic games.

“It’s just really exciting,” Thurmond said. “I’ve been at this for a while and I’ve really enjoyed the ride.”

Despite training 20-30 hours every week and working against world-class competition, Thurmond’s most time-consuming challenge is raising enough money to compete.

“The motivation comes from family and friends who understand the struggle of an Olympic athlete,”Thurmond said. “Every year we contemplate retirement for the simple fact that financially, we don’t know if we can do it.”

Once athletes make the U.S. team, most of their expenses are paid. But, working through the year-round training and events is largely up to the athletes themselves and whatever sponsors they can get.

Thurmond said that while the U.S. team is “truly the world’s hardest team to make,” there aren’t many sponsorships available. That’s not to say she hasn’t tried. Along with selling Arethathrows.com T-shirts, Thurmond has tossed around ideas such as appearing on TV shows “Oprah” or “Ellen”.

“The sponsorship money isn’t out there because people assume we’re already taken care of,” Thurmond said.

Currently Thurmond and her “team” of supporters is trying to get the funds together so her coach, Jerry Clayton, can go to Beijing to work with Thurmond.

“If we can pool enough resources together, then he’ll go,” Thurmond said. “Our world is that cut and dry.”

Thurmond started training with Clayton, a track coach at Auburn University, in 2002. While in Alabama, she met her future husband Reedus Thurmond. Reedus is a discus thrower himself and placed tenth in his preliminary heat at the Trials in Eugene.

Reedus was later hired as an assistant track coach at the University of Washington, which brought Thurmond back to Seattle.

An unexpected start

If Thurmond had her way she may never have even tried the discus, or the track team, in high school because she wanted to play softball. Her P.E. teacher saw her potential talent for the discus and thought she should try track. The teacher challenged her to a bet involving a game of basketball. If Thurmond lost, she had to try track. If she won, she could play softball.

She lost, joined the track team and it didn’t take her long to realize she’d found the right sport. She placed second in the state in discus in 1991 as a freshman and went on to take the title her next three years.

Then Thurmond attended the University of Washington, where she placed fourth in the Pac-10 and seventh in the NCAA her freshman year, 1995.

In 1996, she placed third at the Olympic Trials and 34th in the qualifying round at the Olympics. As a senior in 1998, she threw an American collegiate record distance of 215 feet, three inches in San Diego.

It could have gone either way

One of the biggest crossroads in Thurmond’s career was the birth of her son Theo in 2007. Thurmond trained during the pregnancy, then finished in sixth place at the USA Outdoors, a mere 18 days after giving birth.

“That’s what really inspired me to make the effort to come back last year,” she said. “If I could go out after having this baby and have the experience I had out there… having a decent performance. I said to myself, ‘I think I have a good chance of making the next Olympics.’”

Thurmond’s career may have been in jeopardy if she hadn’t thrown well at the meet. “If things had turned out differently, I may have retired. Who knows?”

The Outdoors event was the only competition Thurmond threw in 2007 because of her recovery. The effects of a hastened attempt to get back into shape had slowed her so far in 2008 before the Trials.

The Trials win was her first this season, largely because she had to accelerate her workouts to recover from child birth. She had to do a number of programs simultaneously that would normally be stretched out over more time and done separately.

“In the early meets, it was tough to have a realistic expectation to do well,” she said. “But I’m getting closer, starting to feel good.”

Third time’s the charm

Beijing will be Thurmond’s third Olympic games. She made the 1996 games in Atlanta and the 2004 games in Athens.

“Every Olympic team is different,” she said. “To be a three-time Olympian, to me it’s just unimaginable. It’s hard enough to get there once.”

Thurmond hasn’t won an Olympic medal yet, and even if she doesn’t make it to the podium this summer, she’s happy with just making the team.

“It would just mean a life-long dream coming to pass,” Thurmond said. “Making the Olympic team is special, getting a medal would just be icing on the cake.”

As for a future berth in the 2012 games in London, don’t rule anything out for Thurmond. “This is something you can do well late in your career. I have a great chance of throwing far now and a great chance of throwing far in four years.”

The Summer Olympics in Beijing, China run from August 8-24.

Adam McFadden can be reached at amcfadden@reporternewspapers.com or 425-255-3484, ext. 5054.