OLDS – A local athlete has set a world record in her age group in the throws pentathlon.
Rachel Andres, from Olds, accomplished that feat on Sept. 23 during a meet in Calgary.
Andres broke the previous record by seven points, which had been set in 2015 by fellow Canadian Josie La-Jeur.
Unfortunately, that’s where it ends for Andres because the event wasn’t an Olympic qualifier, so her name goes next to the record, but that’s it.
Andres notified the Albertan about the feat in an email last week. She said she’d been too busy with various things, including family, to be able to get the word out earlier.
In the throws pentathlon, athletes must throw the hammer, shot put, discus, javelin, and weight consecutively on the same day within four hours.
“I've been doing all five since I was in, like college,” she said during an interview.
"I've been top five or six in the world all (that) time, so this is kind of been something I've been wanting to go for, but I haven't been able to go for it until the event was actually offered for my age group. It starts being offered once you hit 35.”
The accomplishment was all the much sweeter for Andres because she and her fellow athletes dealt with some pretty challenging – and changing – conditions.
“We started out with dense fog, almost too dense to throw in, which made the hammer ring slick and everyone cold for hammer and shot put,” Andres wrote in an email.
“By the time discus started, the fog had mostly burned off and a chilly wind had kicked up.”
And once the javelin portion of the competition got underway it was sunny, then hot when the weight throw competition began.
“We experienced a full gamut of Alberta weather in the span of the four-hour event.”
