Ealey achieves best American performance since Carter’s 2016 Olympic gold medal effort of 67-8.25 (20.63m) to secure second outdoor national title with 67-3.50 (20.51m), joining Aquilla and Woodard on U.S. roster for World Championships

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

EUGENE, Ore. – There were two significant shifts that took place Sunday at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, one that was obviously meaningful and memorable with the last appearance in a national final for American record holder and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Michelle Carter, and another that was equally powerful, but only present to those who truly know the potential of Chase Ealey.

Carter, 36, managed to advance to the final rounds, earning eighth place with a mark of 58 feet, 1.75 inches (17.72m) on her third attempt at Hayward Field.

Carter was also there to watch Ealey produce the best performance by a U.S. female athlete since the 2016 Olympics, indicating the event is in good hands in the future, both at the World Championships on July 15-24 at the same venue, along with the years ahead.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | MEET VIDEOS | PHOTOS by John Nepolitan | PHOTOS by Chuck Aragon

Ealey, 27, achieved the No. 2 performance in American history with her second-round effort of 67-3.50 (20.51m) and added a 66-3 (20.19m) mark in the sixth round for good measure to capture her second career outdoor crown, along with 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ealey eclipsed the 2013 meet record of 66-5 (20.24m) held by Carter, along with the facility record of 66-1.50 (20.13m) set the same year by Valerie Adams of New Zealand. She also grabbed the world lead, surpassing the 66-8.50 (20.33m) performance achieved a day earlier by Canadian record holder Sarah Mitton at her national championship meet in British Columbia.

“I was really hoping she’d be able to make the final, so we could all be there and see her last throw and be able to celebrate that with her,” Ealey said. “She kept teasing me and telling me not to break her record this year, but I am not going to make any promises. But it was amazing. She’s the GOAT and you’ve got to respect that.”

Following a fifth-place finish at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, Ealey has no longer let her own expectations or outside pressure become limiting factors in her performance.

Instead, Ealey has been able to support her impressive strength and improving technique with the mental toughness that has resulted in a silver medal in March at the World Indoor Championships in Serbia – matching Carter’s all-time American indoor mark of 66-3.75 (20.21m) – along with her remaining unbeaten in six competitions during the outdoor season.

“I’m really excited about my series and to have two over (20 meters) and I feel amazing. I feel like I am in a better place and yes, I was nervous today, but I feel like I can use those nerves in a better way now with being more confident,” Ealey said. “That has been the biggest change, to be able to take those nerves and (channel) them and not break down because of them. A lot of the changes have been in my head. I’ve always known what I’ve been physically capable of, even when I was training in Phoenix, I’ve always thrown far and had some amazing training, but my mentality was never there.”

Adelaide Aquilla, a three-time NCAA Division 1 champion at Ohio State, followed her Olympic berth last season by being the only member of that American trio to also qualify for World Championships this year.

Aquilla, the collegiate record holder at 64-5.25 (19.64m), had a third-round mark of 63-9.75 (19.45m), with former Oklahoma standout Jessica Woodard taking third to make her first U.S. team with a personal-best 63-7.75 (19.40m) in the fifth round.

“It was exciting to see (Chase) throw that, and I feel like she’s going to continue to be really consistent at Worlds and throwing far, and I’m excited to be there and to do that with her,” Aquilla said. “For me, every time I see someone throw far, it just gets me excited immediately because it’s a number to chase. It’s a lot easier to chase something than to be out there and have people chasing you.”

Every American female shot put competitor is still chasing Carter’s gold medal mark of 67-8.25 (20.63m) from Rio de Janeiro, but she knows that with five active athletes in the U.S. all having surpassed 64 feet, including Ealey and last year’s national champion Jessica Ramsey both eclipsing the 20-meter barrier, the standard might not survive the remainder of the summer.

“It’s amazing to see such depth in the women’s shot. I told myself, ‘I wish they were throwing that far when I was in my prime,’” Carter said. “But it’s just so great that I was able to be a part of a movement and we were able to elevate women’s sports in such a way, especially my event, women’s shot put, that’s not popular, and it’s not considered sexy, but we’re putting it on the map and having more girls interested, and showing that women are strong and powerful and beautiful in any and every way.”

Carter, who won seven career U.S. outdoor titles including her first in 2008, will retire from competition this year, along with fellow 36-year-old American veterans Allyson Felix and Kara Winger, both of whom qualified to participate in their final World Championships, but the first on home soil in July.

But her legacy has inspired not only her potential heir apparent in Ealey, but also a 23-year-old rising star in Aquilla, along with several others looking to contend for spots on future U.S. national teams.

“To have this be Michelle’s last meet and to make the finals is just a really great tribute to her, and the legacy that she’s left here,” Aquilla said. “I think (her gold medal) set the standard for what we need to do and what our generation needs to uphold and continue to elevate. We need to uplift (our performances) and we need to continue to get those firsts, seconds and thirds at these big championship meets.”

Ealey knows if she can continue to maintain a positive outlook and remain healthy, that she can capture the first medal for the American women in the shot put at the World Championships since Carter earned bronze in 2017 in London.

“It felt really good, I’ve been training really well and I knew what I was capable of, but it’s always harder to put it together in competition,” Ealey said. “I feel like I’m in a better place in my personal life, which is resulting in a better mentality and I’m just really able to get it done.”

Although Carter wasn’t able to make her seventh World Championship team, she will continue to celebrate her friends in the event and overall in the sport in the coming weeks, hoping to see women’s shot put featured prominently at the global competition, especially with strong performances from the American athletes.

“I just wanted to be in the moment and let whatever happens happen, and celebrate every lady that’s competing (Sunday), because like I said, the sport has come a long way,” Carter said. “To be a part of that, and to pass the baton off and they are able to go out there and represent Team USA in the best way that they can, I can’t be mad about that. I have to be happy for those who are coming up and who are going to take the Team USA legacy even further.”