From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

Huge outdoor opener Saturday for Delsea grad Josh Awotunde coming off his 5th-place finish at World Indoors.

Awotunde surpassed 70 feet four times in the same meet for the first time in his life and recorded four of his 13-best throws ever at the USATF Golden Games at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, Calif.

Awotunde opened with a 67-10 ¼ before reeling off four straight 70-foot bombs, each one farther than the last: 70-0 ¼ on his second throw, 70-3 ½ on his third, 70- 10 ¾ and 70-11 ¾ on his fifth.

He had the lead until Darrell Hill hit 71-1 ½ on his fifth throw. Awotunde closed with a 69-3 ¼. His six legal throws 69-10 ½.

This is actually the first time the former South Carolina All-America has even had three 70-foot throws in the same series, and he had four. He actually had four of the top-seven throws of the competition.

Hill and Awotunde rank No. 1 and No. 2 among Americans so far this year and No. 3 and 4 in the world, behind only Italians Zane Weir and Nick Ponzio, who both threw PRs of 72-1 ¾ and 71-1 ¼ last month at the European Throwing Cup at Centro Nacional de Lançamentos, in Leiria, Portugal.

Awotunde is No. 15 in U.S. history with his 72-2 in Italy last September. He’s now reached 70 feet 14 times in eight meets.

Here is a look at all of Awotunde’s 70-foot throws, including all tertiary throws within a series. Note that full series information was never released in the results from last year’s Meeting Città di Padova at Stadio Colbachini in Padovad, Poland. So it’s possible he has additional 70-foot throws from that meet that we don’t know about.

Josh Awotunde All-Time 70-Foot Throws
72-2 … Meeting Città di Padova, Stadio Colbachini, Padovad, Poland, Sept. 5, 2021 [N/A] [place]
71-8 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Eugene, Ore., June 18, 2021 [6th throw] (5th place]
71-2 ¼i … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [3rd throw] (5th)
71-2 ¼ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [4th throw] (3rd)
71-1 ½ … Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021 [6th throw] [2nd place]
70-11 ¾ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [5th throw] [2nd]
70-11 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [5th throw) [2nd]
70-10 ¾ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [4th throw) [—]
70-6 ½ … Gyulai István Memorial, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, July 6, 2021 [6th throw] [—]
70-6 ¼i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [3rd throw] [1st]
70-3 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [3rd throw] [—]
70-2 ½i … American Track League, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2022 [1st throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]
70-0 ¼ … World Athletics Indoors, Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022 [2nd throw] [—]

By the way, an interesting interview with Josh was posted Sunday on a web site called MCThrows that gets into his preparation for various meets depending on the pre-competition routine meet officials put the athletes through. And now I can’t figure out what the “MC” stands for in MCThrows, but it’s a good story! Click here for that.