EUGENE, Ore. -- Shot-putter Jillian Camarena-Williams is married to Dustin Williams, a physio-therapist for U.S. team staffs who will work with track and field athletes in London. About a month ago, he received a memo that he should purchase his airline ticket to London before fares rose.

He asked his wife whether she wanted to take the same flight. The Olympic trials were still a month away, but Camarena-Williams said yes and they purchased their tickets. She is the American record holder in the shot put and took bronze at last year's world championships, so she wasn't worried about jinxing herself by buying the ticket before actually qualifying. At least not much.

"You always get that thought in the back of your mind, but I was throwing well and things were going well," she said. "I just thought it was a good move to get it done early."

And then came Friday's shot put final. Camarena-Williams threw 56-10 ¼ inches for her first toss, fouled on her second and found herself in fifth place heading into her third throw. Suddenly, that advance purchase wasn't looking so shrewd.

"After my second toss, I was like, 'Oh, crap. What am I doing?'" she said. " ... I think I gave Dustin a heart attack. I've had my ticket for a couple weeks and all I could think was, 'I want to be on that plane.' It was in the back of my mind that he was going and I had to be there with him, and luckily I was able to do that."

Her third toss went 62-10 ½ , lifting her to first place, where she remained to qualify for her second Olympics. She will be using that plane ticket after all.

The shot put is a big part of Camarena-Williams' life. Not only has she competed in the event for years, but she also wrote her thesis on the discipline. "We studied the energy that goes into the legs," she said. "My thesis advisor is Ian Hunter, who does the bio-mechanics for USA Track and Field and he loved it."

Camarena-Williams finished 12th in Beijing four years ago, but changed her technique from glide to spin and added roughly six feet to her throws. She wants to get on the podium in London, which would give her a souvenir to take through the airport metal detectors on the return flight home.

"I just hope to have the best day I possibly can," she said. "I want to come away with a medal, that's the goal."

By the way, Williams has been checking the airfares since he purchased the tickets and the prices haven't changed.

"So I could have waited," he said. "But it's just one of those things where you have the faith and trust that what we've been doing is going to work. And we're going to go a long ways. She's ready to throw far."