Olympic Trials: OU's Tia Brooks thrilled to have Sooner teammate Brittany Borman as fellow Olympian

Brooks already had assured herself a trip to London with a third-place finish in the women's shot put at the U.S. Olympic Trials last week in Eugene, Ore.

Borman spoke of how nervous she was while watching Brooks compete.

“After I saw that she made it, I was emotionally drained,” Borman said on Thursday as OU's Olympics-bound athletes met the media. “We were hugging and crying. It was just unbelievable.”

For Brooks, the experience of watching her best friend, the woman for whom she will act as maid of honor following the Olympics, was nerve-wracking. She sat in the stands, hoping Borman would join her in London.

With one throw left in the meet, Borman needed to hurl her javelin farther than she'd thrown it before to hit the Olympic “A” qualifying standard to make the Olympic team — let alone win the trials.

She knew her dream of becoming an Olympian was at stake.

“It's always been my dream to go,” Borman said.

She stepped onto the runway with a javelin that OU track and field assistant Brian Blutreich's wife had blessed.

Lynda Lipson-Blutreich used the same javelin to win the Olympic Trials in 2000. It had sat in the Blutreichs' garage for 12 years before Borman threw it in competition this season.