Michael Hazle (born March 22, 1979) is a United States Olympian and National Champion (American javelin thrower.) Mike is also a former United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) Combat Controller (CCT). He is a four-time silver medalist at the US outdoor championships (2007–2010), before he claimed his first National Championship in 2011. He also won a silver medal in his category 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 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil.

Career

Hazle, a native of Conroe, Texas, started out his sporting career as a football and baseball enthusiast at Temple High School. He attended

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

San Marcos San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to: Towns and cities Argentina * San Marcos, Salta Colombia * San Marcos, Antioquia * San Marcos, Sucre Costa Rica * San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú) ...

, Texas, where he played both football and baseball for three years, before ending his career with a knee injury. He was convinced by his long-time friend and mentor Don Hood to try out for track and field. Hazle initially trained and competed for the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

, but he decided to narrow his focus to the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

, which was considered his best event. He qualified for the 2002 NCAA and U.S. outdoor championships, where he achieved his personal bests of 67.56 and 70.66 metres, respectively. Hazle also owned a bachelor's degree in exercise sports science (2001), and a master's degree in sports and business administration (2003) from Texas State University. Shortly after his graduation from the University, Hazle continued to compete at the US national championships, but did not attain better than the fifth position in the javelin throw. In 2007, he reached his breakthrough season with a runner-up finish at the AT&T US Outdoor Championships, posting a personal best throw of 75.06 metres. Hazle also qualified for the

IAAF World Championships 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 ...

Osaka, Japan is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third most populous city in Ja ...

, and eventually claimed a silver medal in men's javelin at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, Brazil, with a seasonal best throw of 75.33 metres. In 2008, Hazle set a personal best of 82.21 metres by placing third at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

. He repeated his runner-up finish at the U.S. Outdoor National Championships, and also, at the

U.S. Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading i ...

in Eugene, Oregon, with a throw of 75.76 metres, earning him a spot on the United States team for the Olympics. At the

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 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Hazle competed as a member of the U.S. track and field team in the men's javelin throw, along with his teammates

Breaux Greer Breaux Greer (born October 19, 1976) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. After attending Ouachita Parish High School and the University of Louisiana at Monroe, he went on to be the current American r ...

and Leigh Smith. He performed a best throw of 72.75 metres from his second attempt, but fell short in his bid for the twelve-man final, as he placed twenty-fifth in the qualifying rounds. Hazle continued his runner-up streak at the 2009 and 2010 US Outdoor Track and Field Championships, until he claimed his first ever career title in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, with a best throw of 78.22 metres. He was expected to compete for the second time at the

Daegu, South Korea Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, and at the

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico, but forced to withdraw from the competitions because of career ending right elbow injury.' After retiring from professional athletics, Hazle enlisted in the

United States Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

. In 2012 he was awarded a Navy SEAL officer billet for BUD/s for fiscal year 2013 but lost the billet after the

United States budget sequestration in 2013 The 2013 budget sequestration refers to the automatic spending cuts to United States federal government spending in particular categories of outlays that were initially set to begin on January 1, 2013, as a fiscal policy as a result of Budget Co ...

. Hazle then enlisted as a US Air Force Special Operations Command

Combat Controller United States Air Force Combat Control Teams, singular Combat Controller (CCT) ( AFSC 1Z2X1), are an elite American special operations force (specifically known as "special tactics operators") who specialize in all aspects of air-ground communi ...

. Mike retired from the military in 2019.

Major competition record

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Seasonal bests by year

* 2003 - 69.25 * 2005 - 79.15 * 2006 - 77.09 * 2007 - 81.99 * 2008 - 83.74 (personal best) * 2009 - 82.06 * 2010 - 80.05 * 2011 - 81.09 * 2012 - 76.16

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazle, Mike 1979 births Living people American male javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California People from Conroe, Texas Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Texas Track and field athletes from Texas USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners