Dolly Gabri set a new BC Summer Games record in women’s shot-put Friday morning, then broke it on her next throw, easily winning the gold medal.
Back to back throws of 13.44 and 13.93 metres should have had the Surrey native grinning from ear to ear.
But she wasn’t.
As absurd as it sounds given how thoroughly she dominated her BC Games competition, Gabri didn’t feel good about either throw.
“I’m not throwing my best because my best is 15.19 metres, and I’m really disappointed right now,” she explained. “I felt a little more drive in my hips during the second throw, so it’s getting there.”
“And I am happy I broke the record.”
Gabri set the new mark with a delivery that’s unique to this age-level, a violent and entertaining cork-screw technique that saw her do two full rotations before releasing the ball.
The soon-to-be 15 year old had the crowd gasping as the ball arced through the air and thudded into the ground.
“I saw a lot of Olympic athletes doing it and asked my coach if I could do it too,” said Gabri, who trains with South Surrey’s Coastal Track Club. “What I was doing before wasn’t really working for me and I thought, ‘Look, there’s so many people throwing with the spin and they’re throwing so far. Maybe I could do that!”
Competing in her first BC Summer Games, Gabri was already looking ahead to her next events.
She’ll gun for more hardware in hammer-throw and discus, where’s she’s looking to break another record.
“It does feel great now that I’ve got that gold medal,” she said, finally cracking a smile. “Now I just want to go get another one.”
The silver medal went to Michelle Badson of New Westminster, and bronze was earned by Jenevieve Patry-Smith of Port Coquitlam.
Eric Welsh
Black Press
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