by Larry Eder
Amy Acuff, photo by PhotoRun.net
Kara Patterson, photo by PhotoRun.net
ASICS ATHLETES AMY ACUFF, SHARON DAY AND KARA PATTERSON ARE HEADING TO
LONDON
-High jump veteran Acuff joins an elite group of track & field female
athletes with five appearances at the Games-
After two impressive days of competition for ASICS athletes, Amy Acuff in
the high jump, Sharon Day in the heptathlon, and Kara Patterson in the
javelin, all three women have earned repeat appearances at London this
summer. Acuff secured her spot in the high jump finals clearing 1.95 meters
while Day set a personal record with 6,343 total points in the competition,
and Patterson coasted onto her second team after her third javelin throw of
56.79 meters.
Not able to deny her passion for the sport and with a desire to make a fifth
Olympic team, Acuff, 36 years of age, came back from a two-year retirement
to prove she still has what it takes to be competitive on the world stage. A
mother, acupuncturist, and part-time model, Acuff now hopes to add a gold
medal to her resume after placing fourth in the 2008 Summer Games in
Beijing. Acuff is a six-time U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Champion (’95,
’97, ’01, ’03, ’05, ’07) and five-time U.S. Indoor Track and Field Champion
(’01, ’04, ’07, ’08, ’09). She joins an elite group of United States female
athletes, including track & field star Francie Larrieu Smith and swimmer
Dara Torres, to make five Olympic teams.
“I feel so honored to make my fifth Olympic team and am amazed that I can be
in the best shape of my life,” says Acuff. “I’m proud to be a part of the
strongest U.S. team ever in the women’s high jump, and I feel reborn and
excited about the challenge of winning a gold medal in London.”
Acuff’s Beijing high jump teammate Sharon Day will make her second
appearance at the Games, but this will be her first time competing as a
heptathlete. Day, the defending U.S. Champion, has had an impressive year,
coming into the U.S. Track & Field Trials with the top two U.S. heptathlon
scores this season. Multi-tasking has proved to come easy to Day, a former
four-year soccer and track & field collegiate athlete at Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo. She now sets her sight on a podium finish in London.
“I’m so happy to have made my second Olympic team,” says Day. “I am so ready
to represent the United States in London. STOP AT NEVER.”
Javelin thrower and American record holder Kara Patterson is also seeking a
place on the podium in London. The four-time All American champion trains in
San Diego, Calif. and has been focused on speed, strength and power, which
has yielded positive results thus far in 2012 with a meet-record at the
Drake Relays and throwing her second best distance of the year in New York
at the Grand Prix earlier this month.
“I’m happy to be done with the Olympic Trials and am now locked on London,”
says Patterson. “I’m excited to represent ASICS at the Summer Games.”
Acuff, Day and Patterson join ASICS athletes Lolo Jones (hurdles), Julie
Culley (5000m), and Ryan Hall (marathon) all heading to London as part of
Team U.S.A.
“ASICS is so proud of all our athletes who competed in Eugene this past week
and a half,” says Anne Adams, ASICS Marketing Manager, Running Athletes.
“They have all worked so hard to be here, and we are honored to be a part of
their journey. It will be extremely exciting to see what they accomplish in
London this summer.”
