Louisville thrower Jayden Ulrich, 'girl with all the piercings,' makes Olympics in discus

EUGENE, Ore. – Walls along the interior of Indiana University’s Gladstein Fieldhouse feature images of IU track and field athletes making Olympic teams.

So what does IU do about Jayden Ulrich?

The discus thrower developed at IU. She won a Big Ten championship for IU. Her coach is from the state of Indiana.

Except coach and athlete are now both at University of Louisville. And Ulrich is an Olympian.

“It’s always been a dream,” she said Thursday night after finishing second at the U.S. Olympic Trials. “Everyone in this sport wants to make it on Team USA for the Olympics. I’m still giddy about it.”

After Ed Beathea took over as IU’s new head coach last July 1, he did not retain Cory Martin as throws coach. As an athlete, Martin was a state champion for Edgewood High School, an NCAA champion in the shot put and hammer at Auburn, and threw the shot 72 feet, 6 ½ inches in 2010.

Louisville coach Joe Franklin subsequently hired Martin, and Ulrich followed. Franklin, a Greencastle native, was a Purdue half-miler and national cross-country coach of the year while at Butler.

Asked if she had dual allegiance to IU and Louisville, Ulrich replied: “Not really.”

Valarie Allman, the defending Olympic champion, won the discus with a distance of 232 feet.

Ulrich was second at 205-5. Vanderbilt’s Veronica Fraley, who beat Ulrich to win the NCAA title, was third at 205-2.

Former Purdue thrower Micaela Hazlewood, second at the 2021 trials, finished seventh at 193-4.

Ulrich said the transition from IU to Louisville was an easy one.

“I think it was just the environment, going to a place where everyone’s rooting for you,” she said. “It makes championship throws a lot easier to do.”

Ulrich, 21, of East Alton, Ill., has not met the standard of 211-7 but has a world ranking of 28th that should make the cut to 32 for Paris. She has one more collegiate season.

Beyond her throwing exploits, she has drawn attention from 22 body piercings.

“I’m always known as the girl with all the piercings,” Ulrich said.

And now she can be known as something else: Olympian.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.