Armstrong comes home
Dylan Armstrong is one fatigued shot putter.
The 31-year-old from Kamloops is back home after competing across Europe, North America and Asia these last few months en route to the Olympic Summer Games in London, which get underway on July 27.
“It’s really good to be home,” the 6-foot-4, 345-pound athlete told KTW on Monday, June 18.
“We know we’ve got a hard training block in front of us.”
Armstrong and coach Anatoliy Bondarchuk will be practising twice daily in the throws pit at Hillside Stadium until the Canadian Olympic trials, which run from June 27 to June 30 in Calgary.
The hulking shot putter was in good form on the weekend, placing first at the Donovan Bailey Invitational on Saturday, June 16, with a throw of 21.02 metres.
His personal best on the season is 21.50 metres, still well shy of his all-time mark of 22.21 metres, set at the Canadian championships in 2011.
Armstrong will be joined later this month at the trials by National Throws Centre teammates Sultana Frizell, Kibwe Johnson and Megann and Justin Rodhe.
After the meet in Calgary, the Westsyde secondary graduate will return home for a few days before flying to Portugal for a month-long training camp.
“It’s a personal camp,” Armstrong said.
“I know a guy there that’s very, very accommodating. We go to a sports centre in the south of Portugal on the ocean. We get some good training in.”
Armstrong, who has a place in Kamloops, will use the next two weeks to recuperate before the stretch run to the Olympics.
“I feel like I’m in pretty good shape,” he said.
“I’m just tired.”
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