Jennifer Dahlgren Fitzner (born 21 April 1984) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

er. Having spent much of her life in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, she competed as an amateur for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. She set the US collegiate hammer record and was the NCAA Outdoor champion in both 2006 and 2007. She is a three-time

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

list at the

South American Championships South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

and won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. Dahlgren has represented Argentina at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, as well as having competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

on three occasions. She first broke the South American record in the discipline in 2004 and has raised it several metres to her current best of 73.74 m. She is one of the continent's top performers in the event, in which South American athletes are historically weak. In 2010 she won the Konex Award Merit Diploma as one of the five best Athletes from the last decade in Argentina.

Career

Dahlgren's first major tournament was the

2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Santiago, Chile between 17 and 22 October 2000. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1122 athle ...

, but she did not make the final, finishing 11th in the qualifying stages. She finished fourth at the 2001 World Youth Championships, but won the South American Junior Championships and took second at the

Pan American Junior Championships The Pan American U20 Athletics Championships are a biennial sports event for track and field organized by the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) open for junior (U20) athletes from member and associate member associations. They were first h ...

that year.Pochat, Victor (2007-08-24)
Focus on Athletes - Jennifer Dahlgren

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2015-01-28. Dahlgren took fifth at the

World Junior Championships in Athletics The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the ye ...

the following year and again topped the podium in the 2002 South American Junior Championships in Athletics. The 2003 season proved to be a breakthrough year: she set the South American junior record in the discipline and won at the Pan American Junior Championships. Dahlgren reached the championship podium three times in 2004, finishing third at the

NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for women organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make ...

for the

with a South American record of 66.12 m, taking the gold at the South American U23 Championships in Athletics and winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Ibero-American Championships. However, she did not fare as well at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, managing a throw of only 59.52 m. In 2005, she improved her record to 67.07 m and bettered her previous performance at the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish. She set a championship record of 65.05 m to win the

2005 South American Championships in Athletics The 2005 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia from July 21 to July 24, 2005. Detailed day-by-day reports can be found on the IAAF website. Medal summary Men's events Women's e ...

– her first senior title. She did not continue her momentum into the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

and she threw three fouls to be eliminated in the qualifying round. In 2006, she won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Indoor Weight throw title and set a new US collegiate record in the hammer with a throw of 71.78 m at the

SEC Championships The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

– the fourth time she had improved her South American record that year. She went on to win her first outdoor NCAA hammer throw title a few months later. Dahlgren improved her championship record to 69.07 m to take a second continental gold at the

2006 South American Championships in Athletics The 2006 in athletics (track and field), 2006 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio La Independencia in Tunja, Colombia from 29 September to 1 October. The competition represented a departure from the traditional bienn ...

. She also won at the

2006 South American Games The VIII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, ...

, which acted as the South American Under-23 Athletics Championships that year. She started 2007 by winning the NCAA championships with a mark of 70.72 m (her final amateur title) and throwing a new South American record of 72.01 m soon afterwards in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. She scored her first major championship medal at the

, taking the bronze with a throw of 68.37 m behind

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Yipsi Moreno Yipsi Moreno González (born November 19, 1980, in Camagüey) is a Cuban hammer thrower. She is a triple world champion and Olympic gold medalist, a former world junior record holder and current area record holder. In 2016, after the 2008 Ol ...

and

Arasay Thondike Arasay María Thondike Santovenia (also spelled ''Thondique'' or ''Tondike''; born 28 May 1986 in Sagua La Grande, Villa Clara) is a female hammer thrower from Cuba. She set a personal best throw of 71.14 metres in June 2007 in Warsaw. This pe ...

. Representing Argentina at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

, she threw 65.64 m in the qualifying round but this was not enough to progress to the final. She suffered a foot injury in 2008, which affected her performances early in the season. She recovered somewhat in time for the 2008 Ibero-American Championships and was the silver medallist behind

Rosa Rodríguez Rosa Andreína Rodríguez Pargas (born 2 July 1986 in Acarigua, Portuguesa ) is a Venezuelan hammer thrower. She is the Venezuelan record holder for the event with her personal best of 72.83 metres, set in May 2012, which she improved to ...

. She had a best mark of 66.35 m at the

, leaving her as the best South American performer but in 29th place overall. She had a below par performance at the

2009 South American Championships in Athletics The 2009 South American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''2009 Campeonatos Sudamericanos'') was the forty sixth edition of the tournament and was held between 19 and 21 June in Lima, Peru. Brazil dominated the tournament, easily finishing w ...

, throwing 63.81 m for the bronze medal. Despite this, she was also the best South American performer in the hammer at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, where her throw of 68.90 m was good enough for 17th, but not enough to make the final round. She came under the tutelage of fellow Argentine Marcelo Pugliese, a former Olympic hammer thrower. At the start of the 2010 season, Dahlgren set another best of 73.74 m in Buenos Aires.Biscayart, Eduardo (2010-04-12)
Prepping for Hammer Throw Challenge opener, Dahlgren breaks South American record in Buenos Aires

. Retrieved on 2010-04-12.

Personal life

Dahlgren frequently moved with her family in her youth, which meant that she spent much time living in the

. She returned to Argentina at the age of 13, but took time to feel comfortable with the language and settle into her school. However, after settling she was once again uprooted as her family moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Her mother Irene Fitzner competed for Argentina as a sprint athlete at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. Dahlgren's younger brother, Paul, attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

. Dahlgren's great-grandfather was

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, hence her Swedish surname.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievements

References

External links