It went over the net? If there was a previous throw where an official ("people out on the field marking") said to the people sitting there that if it had gone further they would have died, why didn't they halt the event? That's basically saying that they knew it was completely unsafe and it seems like an avoidable tragedy. Apologies if you meant something else by people out on the field marking.
Thanks for the clarity you bring to this. I hope you and the athlete who threw the implement understand this is not your fault in any way.
The organizers of this event are screwed. This was easily preventable. If you can’t guarantee throwing events are safe, don’t have them. Simple as that.
The seating although technically a temporary stand is there for every meet I believe. I’d bet that stand was there exactly the same as the college meet the previous day. The same where the throws area is. It’s designed to be at the back of the stand.
That's awful. What happened with the first weight throw (where the official said if it went further, people would have died)? How could he see that from a throw that stopped before the netting? Did he know that the netting was unfit for purpose (too low maybe)? This sounds potentially negligent on some level.
Thanks for the clarity you bring to this. I hope you and the athlete who threw the implement understand this is not your fault in any way.
The organizers of this event are screwed. This was easily preventable. If you can’t guarantee throwing events are safe, don’t have them. Simple as that.
You make a good point, the organizer has responsibility here. All the meets I have gone to at UCCS, throws were contested before the running events. Probably for this very reason.
It is hard to say who exactly the organizers are though, as UCCS has been giving all the statements in the news, yet the new club, Colorado United, is shown as the meet organizer on Milesplit.
Without a sanction by USATF, where they even insured???
i have no idea i found it odd that i couldn't find the meet through USATF but found it on athletic.net. yet my coach had told me about it so i presumed it to be safe.
I believe the netting should have been higher because it was clear as soon as you saw how these throws where from everyone throwing it was all over the place. people had throwing into the net around the circle (the cage). I remember the instructor had said the people would have died kind of as a joke but clearly as a warning. I don't think he meant that it was going to go OVER the net but that the force of the weight would send the net set up rocking and the weight would probably have still hit someone through the netting.
more insight:
after the man had been hit, the other field and track events kept happening till everyone was evacuated (high jump and runners) the only thing that was said to people about the accident was a announcement saying "Make a clear walkway" talking about the path the crowd had made after coaches pushed people to make said path so first responders could get through when they got there.
there was no amf or whatever its called in sight. people like my father had gone to look for it, but couldn't find one anywhere. the only medical personnel there was a doctor who was a onlooker. NOT hired by the hosts of the meet of anything. the doctor, thank God did everything she could and got to the victim immediately and started CPR while another lady who seemed to be a er nurse or something started first aid on the man.
Throwing events are very dangerous and unfortunately there are a lot of coaches/meet directors that do not understand safety. I've seen events without boundary flagging or flagging that is a foot away from the sector lines. I've seen spectators way to close to the competition area. I've seen officials that stand right up next to the net not realizing that the net will not immediately stop the implement. Most of my time coaching at meets was spent keeping people from getting hurt or killed and trying to educate others on the dangers of the events. This is very tragic.
Another miscalculation here is letting high schoolers do the weight throw indoors.
Indoor is not a sanctioned HS sport in Colorado, so athletes have no experience doing weight throw. The form and technique are probably most similar to the hammer outdoors, which is not a HS event in Colorado. These HS athletes participating in the weight throw were probably very inexperienced, maybe even doing it for the first time. Plus, unless their coaches were collegiate throwers, their coaches probably don't have experience with the event either.
Another miscalculation here is letting high schoolers do the weight throw indoors.
Indoor is not a sanctioned HS sport in Colorado, so athletes have no experience doing weight throw. The form and technique are probably most similar to the hammer outdoors, which is not a HS event in Colorado. These HS athletes participating in the weight throw were probably very inexperienced, maybe even doing it for the first time. Plus, unless their coaches were collegiate throwers, their coaches probably don't have experience with the event either.
That's incorrect. My state doesn't have weight/hammer as a sanctioned high school event but they have kids compete for club meets. We also have a few that are some of the top kids in college at their prospective schools.
I was there as a registered thrower. I was there to throw shot and was getting ready to start warming up when it happened. I believe there wasn't enough netting for the bleachers to be practically against them with the crowd facing away from where people are throwing heavy metal.
when I had arrived I had in fact gone to the bleachers and stood in front of them to watch the other throwers and saw a weight come flying towards us, it had stopped near the netting and not hit anyone but I heard one of the people out on the field marking say to the people sitting on the top row of the bleachers that if it had gone further they would have died. there was barely any seating so it wasn't like a lot of the elderly people that where sitting there could move so they stayed there. I was standing with my dad and my sister and me and my dad had both made a effort to stay alert sence the first weight mishap. then while I was waiting I realized I needed to start warming up soon so I decided t0 go to the bathroom first and as soon as I got two feet away from where I had been standing, which was right in front of the victim I head yelling and I turned and watched the weight fly OVER the net and into the bleachers, I had thought it had hit my sister from how close it was. I heard the sound of impact and people yelling and pushing people and I got pushed from my dad. I knew that if it was in the head dor spine the victim was probably dead and I was right. there had been a doctor in the crowd who jumped d into action and her and other bystanders started CPR and trying o save him. sadly we are all sure the man died on impact due to the trauma that was visible. after 8 minuets peremedics showed up and 15-20 after impact the meet got canceled and everyone got evacuated.
Thanks for sharing the facts from on the ground.
I hope that you and your family are doing OK. Give your dad and sister a hug!
I saw an official killed by a 35# weight several years ago. A veteran official who just wasn't paying attention that day. (Some of the women in their earlier event said that he'd nearly been hit twice.)
[The young man who made the fatal throw finished that indoor season and left the sport after that, though as I understand it there were other factors at play in that decision.]
My impression is that the most frequent victims of these catastrophic throwing injuries are officials. I could be wrong. .
It is a high school meet, not a UCCS meet. They only used the UCCS facility. The event in question was the weight through, not a hammer (that is an outdoors only event) as wrongly reported by the news. There is a regular throwing cage with doors guarding the sectors and a wall net that separates the bleachers from the throwing area as well as a short wall. It was a horribly tragic event for all involved, the athletes, families, spectators and coaches.
This looks like an indoor facility that isn't a indoor track complex. Did it have enough room for weight throw to clear?
Important to remember that every one of the throwing events started as a weapon designed to kill. While there've been some spectacular javelin injuries, those seem to be rarer, and less frequently fatal, because you pretty much know the general direction the spear is going. (The short-lived rotational javelin throw was banned for safety reasons.)
The others, especially discus and hammer, can and do go anywhere. Following the rules on opening and closing the gates on hammer cages (lefthanded throwers need a different setup than righties) is a pain, but when you've seen what the thing can do you have to figure the rules are necessary.
The organizers of this event are screwed. This was easily preventable. If you can’t guarantee throwing events are safe, don’t have them. Simple as that.
You make a good point, the organizer has responsibility here. All the meets I have gone to at UCCS, throws were contested before the running events. Probably for this very reason.
It is hard to say who exactly the organizers are though, as UCCS has been giving all the statements in the news, yet the new club, Colorado United, is shown as the meet organizer on Milesplit.
Without a sanction by USATF, where they even insured???
I have to think UCCS would require a certificate of insurance from whomever rented the place.
A very sad and tragic accident that appears it could have been prevented. I'm pretty sure that legal action is going to be taken against the facility and meet directors.
