EUGENE, Oregon – Natchitoches native Maria Bienvenu, a St. Mary’s alumnus now competing for TCU, lines up this afternoon in the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials among a 24-woman field in the javelin.
She ranks seventh overall and is fourth among the current collegiate competitors. The qualifying round for the event begins at 6 p.m. with NBC Sports providing overall coverage from Hayward Field on NBC (9 p.m. CDT), Peacock (6-10 p.m.) and USA Network (7-9 p.m.). Live results will be available online at the https://results.usatf.org/2024trials/ website.
The top 12 throwers this evening after three rounds advance to Sunday’s 6:10 CDT finals. Coverage airs on Peacock from 4:50-7:30 CDT and on NBC from 6:30-7:30.
The top three finishers Sunday are eligible for the Paris Olympics – with a catch. They have to have posted a throw that meets or exceeds the Olympic standard, 64.00 meters (209 feet, 11 inches).
Only one athlete throwing the javelin today, Maggie Malone Hardin of the New York Athletic Club, has done that this year. She has a 65.00 best (213-3). The only other competitor who is over 60 meters is American record holder Kara Winger, with a 2024 best of 63.22 (207-5) and a career best of 68.11 (223-5).
Bienvenu, a two-time All-American in her first two collegiate seasons at UL-Lafayette, missed a third All-America award by one place with a 16th place finish early this month at the NCAA Championships. She instead received honorable mention All-America honors.
But most of the throwers at the NCAAs were foreign athletes, leaving Bienvenu among America’s better young throwers.
Her season and personal best mark is 54.45 (178-7), meaning she would need to improve by over 31 feet while finishing in the top three this weekend to have a chance to qualify for the Paris Games.
Although that is very unlikely, a good finish at the Olympic Trials would be a career boost for the 21-year-old who did not throw the javelin until late in her senior year at St. Mary’s, where she was an All-State basketball star who helped the Lady Tigers win a state championship.
She has another collegiate season of eligibility. If she chooses, she could continue her career after college, training for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Typically javelin throwers peak in their post-collegiate years in their 20s.