No limits for hammer throw champion Belvit

Erica Belvit, Jamaica’s hammer throw champion, is improving each season and now she has her mind on the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, this July. If the early signs are anything to go by, her chances of making history are pretty good.

If she is successful, she will be the first Jamaican, male or female, to compete in the hammer at the World Championships.

Born to Jamaican parents in Hartford, Connecticut, Belvit set two personal bests to win the weight throw at the Millrose Indoor Games on January 27. She spun her first attempt 19.72 metres and later pushed that to 19.82m. She nevertheless wanted a bit more. “That was also my last indoor meet. So I’m a little upset that I didn’t get the 20 metres which I really wanted, but it’s fine. “We have time and, if anything, I’m still making progress. So it was a good indication for what I can possibly do,” she commented.

This is the sixth consecutive season in which the Northeastern University graduate student has improved in the weight, an indoor version of the hammer, with corresponding upgrades in the hammer. Last year, she won her second Jamaican title with a mark of 66.37 metres. Months earlier, she set a personal best of 66.92 metres. That was four and a half metres better than her former best, 62.36m, at the 2019 Nationals.

The Jamaica record is 71.48 metres by 2016 Olympian Daina Levy and the qualifying marks for the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games are 61.49 and 72.50 metres, respectively.

“I’m really looking forward to see like how far I can go, because I’ve been progressing all the years since I’ve started and it’s shown me what I can do. But it’s also shown me there’s so much more and I don’t know how far I can go,” the former sprinter said envisioning.

The 23 year-old trains at Northeastern where she read for a bachelor’s degree in finance and management systems. Her productive collaboration with coach Wilfred de Jesus has continued too.

“It’s almost scary because I don’t know what my limit is, if that makes sense”, Belvit submitted.

Like her big Millrose effort, her 66 metres throws felt comfortable. “When I threw my PR, the 66.92m I believe, I told my coaches, I told everyone who was there, it felt like such an easy throw. For me, it was more just doing what I do in practice and kind of just putting it out there and, even again, when I threw 66 at the National Champs in Jamaica, same thing,” she recalled.

That is why she is looking forward to the outdoor season. “It’s not that these things are coming easy to me. It’s more like me just staying consistent and knowing that, if I trust the process, it will work out for me. And so, if I keep doing that, I’m pretty sure, I don’t have a doubt that those numbers won’t come”, Belvit explained.