Local Track & Field Athletes Make Team USA

2012 Olympic Team Trials- Track & Field break Monday and resume Thursday through July 1

Two locals won their spots over the weekend onto Team USA.

Two-time Olympic hammer-thrower Amber Campbell kicked off the team trials for track and field, clinching a spot to represent the U.S. at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Campbell, a native of Indianapolis, was crowned one of the first champions of the trials in Eugene, Ore. after she took first place in the Women's Hammer Throw.

Campbell took the lead in the event after her first round, then fell behind. The fight for the coveted seat cut close for Campbell when Amanda Bingson, of Las Vegas, jumped ahead of her in her second throw.

She needed to throw the Olympic "A" standard of 71.50m to have a chance of representing Team USA. In her fifth throw, Campbell threw a winning mark of 71.80m and earned her Olympic berth.

This is Campbell's second time joining Team USA. She qualified for her first-ever Games as trials runner-up in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Campbell wasn't the only local on the winning side during the first few days of trials. Dawn Harper, of East St. Louis, Ill., placed first in the Women's 100m Hurdles. Harper was the gold medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

U.S. Olympic Team Trials- Track & Field are still underway. Nearly 1,000 top track stars put it all on the line for what the USA Track & Field team says is the "toughest team in the world." More than 100 athletes will be selected to represent Team USA.

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