Six days after DeAnna Price set the American hammer throw record, Saluki Hall of Famer Gwen Berry reclaimed her record with her opening throw at a meet in Chorzow, Poland on Friday, June 8.

Berry threw 255′-2″ (77.78m) on her first attempt Wednesday to take back her American hammer throw record. Berry set the American hammer throw record on May 10, 2017 with her toss of 251′-10″(76.77m), which Price broke on June 2, 2018 with her toss of 254′-9″ (77.65m) at the Iron Wood Throws Classic in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

The 2011 SIU alumna defeated Poland’s Anita Wlodarcyzk in the process. Wlodarcyzk, who won the gold medal in the event at the 2016 Olympics and holds the world record at 272′-3″ (82.98m), hadn’t lost in the hammer throw in nearly four years prior to this year but has now had to settle for second at back-to-back meets.

Berry was a three-time All-American and four-time MVC Champion during her collegiate career at Southern Illinois. She was named the 2011 USTFCCCA Midwest Region Field Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the Saluki Hall of Fame in 2017. She finished 14th in the hammer at the 2016 Olympics and currently resides and trains in Oxford, Mississippi.