Hawkins showed the grit of a champion, finishing her event following a zero-score high jump

The Paris Olympics did not output nan results Chari Hawkins was hoping for, but she has each logic to beryllium proud of her performance.

The 33-year-old Rexburg autochthonal and Madison High School alum group a personal-best mixed people of 6,456 points astatine nan U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials successful June. The people was bully capable to gain a second-place finish, betwixt victor Anna Hall and third-place finisher Taliyah Brooks, and an Olympics roster spot.

That unsocial cemented her position among nan world’s elite heptathlon athletes.

Sure, she nary uncertainty wanted to make a tally astatine an Olympic medal. But what she did was arguably conscionable arsenic difficult.

After nan first arena Thursday greeting — nan 100-meter hurdles — Hawkins was successful 5th place, retired of 21 competitors. Her clip of 13.16 seconds was not acold disconnected her individual champion of of 12.95 seconds, group earlier this year, earning her 1,100 points.

The 2nd event, precocious jump, is wherever things went wholly sideways for nan erstwhile Utah State Aggie.

Hawkins’ individual champion successful nan arena of 1.85 meters — group successful 2022 — would person been worthy 1,072 points and had her successful 3rd spot aft 2 events. Her play champion of 1.79 meters was group during nan tests and would person earned her 1,013 points, bully capable to enactment successful fifth.

Even if she had cleared only nan first tallness of 1.71 meters, Hawkins would person gone into nan 3rd arena — changeable put — pinch 1,967 points — successful 12th place.

Unfortunately, she grounded successful her 3 tries astatine that first height, starring to nan first affectional infinitesimal caught connected camera during nan Olympic day. Shortly aft “no-heighting,” USA Network cameras caught Hawkins talking pinch USA heptathlete coach Shelia Burrell.

Even nan worst lip-readers could spot what she was saying: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t cognize what to do.” Then, Hawkins turned distant from her coach and collapsed to nan ground. That was erstwhile nan cameras mercifully trim distant from nan distressed athlete.

Chari Hawkins talks pinch coach Shelia Burrell

The USA Network commentary squad discussed Hawkins’ options going guardant aft nan zero-score event, suggesting that she whitethorn want to driblet retired of nan event, pinch nary realistic way retired of nan bottommost of nan standings.

As immoderate jock will show you, nan champion measurement to get complete a correction is to erase it from your representation and move connected to nan adjacent effort arsenic soon arsenic possible.

Alas, that was not an action for Hawkins.

Instead, she had to hold for nan different 20 competitors to decorativeness their precocious jump. Then, nan midday break forced her to stew connected her correction for different 7 hours.

She returned to Stade de France, having dropped from fifth- to 21st-place, and sewage correct backmost to business.

Hawkins carded a 770-point changeable put of 13.64 meters. Then, pinch a bosom apt arsenic dense arsenic her legs, ran a 24.49-second 200-meter race, worthy 934 points.

With a people location betwixt her play precocious of 1,013 and nan 867 she would person earned for clearing nan first 1.71 meters, Hawkins would person ended time 1 of nan two-day arena successful nan mediate of nan pack. Maybe not successful nan heavy of nan badge race, but obscurity adjacent nan bottommost of nan leaderboard.

Hawkins showed nan grit it took to triumph nan 2022 National Indoor Pentathlon Short Track Championship. She erstwhile again returned to nan stadium Friday greeting and continued chipping into her deficit.

After 2 events — including nan precocious jump — Hawkins was 774 points down France’s Auriana Lazraq-Khlass for 20th retired of 21 competitors. There were initially 22 competitors, but Germany’s Sophie Weissenberg was injured during warmups for nan hurdles and dropped out. Netherlands’ Anouk Vetter besides dropped retired aft injuring herself successful nan agelong jump, nan first arena Friday.

Hawkins scored 819 points, pinch a jump of 5.90 meters, and 750 points, pinch a javelin propulsion of 44.30 meters. Her scores were 14th- and 15-best successful nan field, respectively. She vanished pinch a 800-meter clip of 2:15.76, 17th successful nan field.

When each was said and done, Hawkins vanished conscionable 593 points down Australia’s Tori West for 20th — she had made up astir 200 points connected nan group up of her complete nan past 5 events.

Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam won nan golden medal, pinch a last people of 6,880. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (6,844), of Great Britain, and Noor Vidts (6,707), besides from Belgium, rounded retired nan podium.

U.S. champion Anna Hall, from Colorado, vanished pinch 6,615 and a fifth-place finish, while Arkansas’ Taliyah Brooks vanished 11th pinch a mixed people of 6,258.

Had Hawkins cleared nan 1.71-meter first tallness — and changed thing other astir nan meet — she would person vanished successful 16th place, pinch a people of 6,122.

Matching her season-best tallness of 1.79 meters would person fixed her a 6,268 and 11th-place finish, while individual best-matching tallness of 1.85 meters would person earned Hawkins a scored of 6,327 and a 10th-place finish.

Of course, “changed thing other astir nan meet” is doing a batch of dense lifting successful this hypothetical.

Sports competitions, for illustration life, run connected nan Butterfly Effect Theory — successful which a mini alteration tin greatly effect nan wide outcome.

Perhaps a successful precocious jump carries Hawkins to improved results successful nan pursuing events. Or, possibly being successful nan badge title aft 2 events — aliases astatine nan extremity of nan first time — create unmanageable unit and a later collapse.

We will ne'er know.

What we do know, without a protector of a doubt, is that Hawkins, this season, was nan second-best American female to compete successful nan heptathlon — that was decided astatine nan U.S. Trials. And she is among nan 23 champion women successful nan world astatine nan seven-event sport.

She besides showed much competitory tenacity than astir would muster connected nan sporting world’s grandest stage, by taking a catastrophic correction connected nan chin, tightening her cleats and fighting to nan last weapon of nan 800-meter race.

She is an inspiration to anyone pinch aspirations of competing successful immoderate sport, and should beryllium celebrated by each of eastbound Idaho.

Thank you, Chari Hawkins, for epitomizing what it intends to beryllium an Olympic athlete.