Las Vegan Amanda Bingson returns to US Trials with Olympic goals

EUGENE, Ore. — I wouldn’t think this is near the home stretch of Amanda Bingson’s journey as an Olympic athlete — she’s only 26, after all — but it has certainly passed the jumping-off point. That came four years ago in London, where she arrived merely satisfied to be included with those wearing Ralph Lauren berets and blazers as part of the U.S. team strolling into the Opening Ceremonies at Olympic Stadium.

She always has been ahead of schedule when it comes to this stuff, and that includes posing naked for the annual Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Bingson has pointed to now, to 2016, to the Rio Games, as the time when she can make her biggest statement yet in the discipline of swings and rotations and velocity.

When she not only competes in the hammer throw on a world stage but also contends.

The graduate of Silverado High School who first took up the event as a freshman at UNLV and holds the American record will be favored to secure her second consecutive Olympic berth Wednesday at Hayward Stadium, where the qualifying and final rounds of the hammer throw will be contested.

The men’s and women’s hammer are the only events scheduled for the U.S. Track and Field Trials on Wednesday, which means more seats than not will be empty. The event has been known to produce some catastrophic injuries (translation: death) to those inside a field’s danger zone, so it’s usually a good idea to have the least amount of people within the same ZIP code as metal balls descend toward the infield at high speeds.

“We’re usually off in the distance somewhere anyway, so while it’s nice to be in the stadium and the fact we’re the only thing going on that day for people to watch, I’m not sure it matters how many are there,” Bingson said. “I’m going to do what I need and throw my best no matter who’s watching.

“My goals have changed dramatically since 2012, when I was just happy to make the team. But that isn’t good enough by American standards. You have to win. The first words you hear are, ‘Did you medal?’ That’s all that matters, and it pushes me. That’s the next step. I’m not training to be the best this week. I’m training to be the best, period.”

It’s not an event that has produced American greatness on the women’s side, one dominated over the years by Eastern Europeans who are identified in elementary school, sent to training centers and later supported financially. In America, those hammer throwers fortunate enough to be sponsored (Bingson is one as a Nike athlete) get paid three months out of the year to compete and then are left to work and support themselves the other nine.

“We’re a little different from the Kobe Bryant-type Olympians,” Bingson said.

The hammer throw was first contested among women at the Olympics in 2000.

Number of Americans who have medaled since: zero.

Number who have medaled at a world championship: same.

In the second of two flights Wednesday, Bingson will be joined by, among others, Gwen Berry, who in May set what was believed to be an American record of 76.31 meters, or 250 feet, 4 inches. But then Berry later declared the use of a banned asthma medication, received a three-month doping ban, and her throw was erased. She became eligible to compete again last week.

It means Bingson still holds the record at 75.73 meters, or 248 feet, 51⁄4 inches.

Some perspective/reality: The world record is 266 feet, held by Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk, who will be the favorite for gold in Rio.

But while Bingson didn’t make it out of qualifying in London and finished 28th, you can argue few American women have brought more attention to the event in recent times and perhaps ever.

Which brings us to the part about being naked.

When six covers of the annual Body Issue were unveiled in 2015, Bingson was on one. More than anything else, her placement was a poignant example that world-class athletes come in all shapes and sizes, and helped humanize the message around all those ripped torsos we expect to see in such pictures.

She was charmingly candid about her selection, saying things like her arm was just an arm, not cut or sculpted; that she didn’t have traps bulging out to her ears, but rather a plain old neck; that she never owned a six-pack; and while her legs were a little toned, they didn’t bulge out.

“I’m just dense,” she said then. “I embrace it. I love myself.”

People loved her for it, and the response was far more than she or the magazine could have hoped. But it was just part of the journey. She hopes the best is yet to come.

“I don’t think the Body Issue changed me, but it did bring awareness to our sport, and that’s exciting,” Bingson said. “But there is a reason I have a tattoo of the Olympic rings. I want to be the first American woman to medal in this event. Nobody has ever seen us as a threat, and I want to change that.

“I want to throw big marks and let the world know we are coming.”

Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney