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August 23, 2004 10:34 am

Mahon fails to qualify for hammer finals

By ELLIOTT DENMAN

Gannett News Service

ATHENS - Anna Norgren Mahon's track and field career is headed for a holding pattern.

The 29-year-old Orange, Conn., resident, University of Vermont graduate and Yale assistant coach was unable to reach the 12-woman Olympic hammer throw final Monday and announced, ``I'm going to take some time off from track now, at least a year, probably'' as she headed out of Olympic Stadium.

Mahon, 29, has a career-best throw of 236 feet, 3 inches and twice set American records in 2002. A year ago, she placed seventh in the women's hammer final at the World Championships in Paris, the best-ever finish for a U.S. woman in any throwing event.

But she was unable to duplicate that form in her first Olympics appearance, reaching a best of 213-2 that left her far out of qualifying range. It took a toss of 223-11 to make the top 12 and advance into Wednesday's final round.

Mahon's other two throws were 210-4 and 202-3, not close to the 227-11 mark she had at last month's Olympic Trials.

Also eliminated were her American teammates Erin Gilreath, who won the Trials at 231-0 but managed just 218-10 here, and Jackie Jescheling who did 204-5.

Mahon's choice to win it all is Yipsi Moreno of Cuba, the 2003 world champion who posted a 231-6 automatic qualifier on her first throw and called it a day.

``Yipsi is an incredible athlete who has done everything but break the world record, and that should come soon, maybe Wednesday night,'' Mahon said.

``This isn't my official retirement; I'll never say never about that,'' she said. "But I'm definitely going to be away for a while.

``I've got things to catch up on, and we (she and husband, Sean) would like to start a family.''

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