Anthonett Nabwe is an introvert who enjoys singing and listening to music. But as a member of the Gophers’ track and field team, she lets her performances speak loudly and clearly.
Earlier this month, Nabwe won the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this season, her 10th such honor of her career, as she helped lead the Gophers to several standout performances at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou.
After winning the 2026 NCAA indoor weight throw title, Nabwe opened her outdoor season by winning the hammer throw at 71.22 meters (233-8) at the Battle on the Bayou, a mark that put her at the No. 1 spot all-time in Big Ten history. She also set a personal best in the discus at 59.58 meters (195-5), finishing runner-up in that event while moving to No. 2 in school history. Her hammer throw also broke her own Minnesota record, which she had set in 2025.
Nabwe’s Big Ten hammer record gives her two conference records this season. The Monrovia, Liberia native who moved to Jamestown, North Dakota to attend high school now sits atop the Big Ten in both the hammer throw and the discus, and ranks No. 2 nationally in the hammer and No. 4 in the discus.
When the Spokesman-Recorder caught up with Nabwe last week in the Athletes Village lobby, she was asked where she keeps the numerous awards she has collected since joining the Gophers in 2024 as a redshirt freshman. “I got stuff in the box,” she said softly, referring to storage in her apartment.
The technical demands of her events are considerable. The shot put is essentially a push from the neck, while the hammer throw relies on maximizing release velocity through rotational acceleration within a throwing circle. Both require balance and the management of centripetal force.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but the rotation is different in both,” Nabwe said. “The shot has two or three parts, and then the hammer… you have to spin. You’re turning about four times, very heel-to-toe, and you have to go in a straight line and release the ball at the fourth turn.”
Both the women’s shot put and hammer throw weigh 4 kilograms (8.82 lbs.).
“It’s just the technique that’s different,” continued Nabwe, who was a high school state champion in the shot put and discus, a three-sport athlete and a National Honor Society member.
“I expect myself to do well because I know I can,” she said. “Every time I get in the ring, I expect to be consistent. It doesn’t have to be a record, but every single time, being consistent and bringing a good throw every time.”
Nabwe is often the only Black competitor in her field events. “Most of my competitors are white,” she said, “But there are some that are also Black, it’s just not a lot.” She and Illinois’ Phethisang Makhethe are considered the top Big Ten throwers. The two Black women competed against each other in the weight throw at the 2026 Big Ten Indoor Championships in late February. Makhethe’s teammate Oluwatomilayo Akintunde is also a fellow Black thrower in the conference.
Off the track, Nabwe is majoring in kinesiology and is on track to graduate this spring, with plans to walk in the commencement ceremony before beginning graduate school in the fall.
“I’m going to take the exercise science graduate program and then PT school,” she said.
Her athletic ambitions extend well beyond the Big Ten.
“The goal is still the Olympics in 2028,” she said. “I am trying to make worlds first, which is next year. There’s a big track meet this summer and I need 75 meters or a ranking to make it there.”
Two former Gophers headed to WNBA training camps
Two former Minnesota Gophers are in WNBA training camps, which opened Sunday.
Amaya Battle signed a training camp contract with the Minnesota Lynx. Rachel Banham re-signed with the Chicago Sky, who acquired the 10-year veteran guard at last season’s trade deadline. Banham set career highs last season in blocks, steals, rebounds, field goals made and free throws made.