NO PAIN, NO GAIN
Even a season-long injury couldn’t hold Maura Fiamoncini back from saving her best for last.
Fiamoncini, a Mount Carmel graduate, injured her shoulder late last summer. She took a month off from throwing, went to physical therapy and received Cortizone shots before learning she had torn a labrum in her throwing shoulder last fall.
The javelin hurler knew with the timing of the diagnosis, surgery wasn’t an option if she wanted to compete in her senior year at Bucknell University.
“Surgery was off the table based on recovery time and I didn’t want to risk losing out on another season,” Fiamoncini said after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out her junior campaign. “I knew I wasn’t going to return for a fifth year, so I learned to throw with the injury.”
Lesson learned.
Fiamoncini posted a career-best throw of 185 feet, 4 inches — good for third place — at the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. A few weeks later, at the same location, she qualified for the U.S. Olympic Finals, finishing her career seventh in the country.
Fiamoncini, a three-time All-American and three-time Patriot League champion for Bucknell, wasn’t aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“I was just trying to enjoy the experience,” she said. “Going into the meet, I didn’t have super high expectations of making the U.S. Olympic team. I knew it was my last track meet ever.”
It paid off as she now gets to say her last competitive javelin throw came in the U.S. Olympic Trials finals.
And to think it almost didn’t happen.
Fiamoncini had been dealing with a great deal of pain after her final throw of 170-3 qualified her for the finals the very next day. Up to that point, she had taken at least weeks between throws —only doing so at competitions — and was being asked to do such on back-to-back days.
She weighed her options, even considered letting her best throw of the event be the last of her career. But she knew if she had done that, she would have been questioning the decision for the rest of her life.
“I knew how much pain I’d be in the next day and how much flexibility and power I’d lose in my throws,” Fiamoncini said. “But I had a few throws left in my career and figured why not?
“I feel as if I would have regretted it if I didn’t. ... That second day was painful, though.”
Painful results
To ensure she could still throw for the Bison, Fiamoncini changed her entire routine. Gone was throwing the javelin at practice. In were medicine balls she tossed like shot puts, putting an emphasis on pain management and flexibility. She also wore a noticeable amount of medical tape to stabilize her shoulder during events, stating she “forgot it was even there.”
Despite 2-4 week spans between javelin tosses, the results didn’t go unnoticed for the two-time PIAA champion. She earned First-Team All-American honors and had a Bucknell record throw at the NCAA Championships.
“I didn’t throw the javelin much at all this season and surprised myself with how well it went,” Fiamoncini said with a laugh. “... I threw a personal best at the NCAA Championships and had by far my best season. I threw over 53 meters [174 feet] all year, and that was what I strived for my freshman and sophomore years. I was very confused by such.”
Off into the sunset
With the NCAA granting athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, Fiamoncini opted not to go that route.
Instead, she is “excited to get to work” after seeing no reason to go back academically. The math major is likely going to work with Geisinger, doing data analytics.
With no plans on throwing competitively again and the pain only striking when she is doing such, Fiamoncini is still opting to get surgery on her labrum this winter. The recovery timeline is another reason she doesn’t plan on returning to Bucknell for a fifth year.
Fiamoncini may be done competing, but she is far from being done with the sport. Instead, the procedure is one part of the broader picture she has for herself.
“At some point, I’d like to coach,” Fiamoncini said. “That’s why I’m getting the surgery. I’d maybe like to coach high school and help people reach the next level.
“I had a great coach, Ana Ditchey, and I wouldn’t have gotten to Bucknell without her. I want to help others reach their potential.”
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