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By Andrew Simonson | Photos by Jermey Raines

On a scorching July day in Sacramento, California, Collin Kinsey got to do one of the things he loves the most: compete in javelin.

This year, he didn’t just get to compete in the 2024 USA Track and Field Outdoor Masters Championships. He won gold for the fourth time in his career and the first since he moved to Helena in October 2023.

“It went great,” Kinsey said. “Everything went to plan and all that and came back with first place, so I was pretty excited about that.”

These days, though, he’s simply grateful to compete. After multiple serious knee injuries nearly robbed him of ability to throw a javelin, he put in the work to silence the doubters and get back to playing the sport he loves.

“It’s been a long road to overcome injuries and get back out there and do it and it’s just a testament to what I believe is just putting your mind towards something and achieving something that some people don’t think you can do,” Kinsey said. “I even had doubts myself if I could come back from injuries like that I sustained, and I was able to overcome and grind it out day-in and day-out and get back to where I needed to be to compete and went out there and did it.”

A new approach

Kinsey’s love of track and field began at a young age where he competed in high school in Ohio, becoming talented enough to become a college athlete and continuing on to Kent State.

He didn’t just specialize in one event as he would compete in the decathlon in college. Kinsey’s success in the decathlon led to him becoming an All-American early in his Kent State career.

Shortly afterwards though, he suffered a knee injury in his junior season that spelled the end of his college career.

While his ability to compete was taken from him, he still stayed close to the sport he loved.

He became a high school coach, and just like in his athletic career, he eventually worked his way up to the college level, coaching in Kentucky at Transylvania University and Midway College while also starting two NAIA track and field programs during his career.

Kinsey’s love for coaching comes from his desire to help young athletes reach their goals like he did.

“I just love to help athletes reach their potential, and myself included, and I just have a passion for the sport,” Kinsey said. “I love it. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid and just really enjoy getting out there and the competition with my friends and competitors and the coaching aspect of it as well.”

Even though he began coaching, his dreams of competing didn’t die. He worked to rehab his injury and get back to competition.

There was no going back to the way he once threw, but through years of retraining, he found ways to modify his technique that would work for his condition.

“It took me a few years to get back to where I could really believe I could throw again and compete, but I had to shorten my approach, do a few things to be able to stay healthy while I throw,” Kinsey said. “I can’t take a full approach like I used to back in college.”

Even without a full approach, Kinsey’s talent still carried him far.

He restarted competing at the USATF Masters, which collects athletes ages 25 and up with divisions based on age groups, and soon enough, he got back to his winning ways.

Kinsey was a back-to-back champion at the Masters in 2013 and 2014, completing his road back from injury with a pair of gold medals.

However, just as that road ended, a new one began: Kinsey suffered another knee injury that sidelined him for multiple years.

He worked once again to make his way back, and in 2022, his dream was once again realized.

While battling through the rain in Lexington, Kentucky, the same state where he once coached college athletes, Kinsey threw the javelin 46.04 meters. With that, he took home gold in the ages 45-49 division of the 2022 USATF Masters, the third Masters gold of his career and his first in eight years.

Kinsey is proud of the effort that he put in to return to the Masters not once, but twice and still pursue his passion after decades in the sport.

“It’s a lot of work, especially at my age where your body doesn’t cooperate like it once did when I was a teenager and in my 20s, and recovery times are much longer,” Kinsey said. “To put in the work and do everything I needed to do to get back into shape to compete, just to be out there with my friends and be able to compete was just a blessing in itself, but to win was actually just a great feeling to be able to do it after everything I’ve been through with injuries and such.”

Mastering the competition

Kinsey had to take the next year off from the Masters because of work, but 2023 still brought exciting changes to his life–namely, moving to Helena.

While family and work commitments occasionally interfere with his ability to take the field, his goal still remains to compete in the Masters whenever he’s able to.

For him, it’s a great goal to have in the back of his mind while training, not only motivating him to win, but also get back and see his old track and field friends who also still compete.

“I’ve done it for years and it’s nice to have something to look forward to each year and stay competitive and stay in contact with a lot of my friends that I’ve met over the years in track and field,” Kinsey said. “It was a great trip.”

Kinsey entered the 2024 USATF Masters in July in prime condition after losing some weight helped him manage his injuries and compete at a high level.

He dealt with a triple-digit track temperature in sunny Sacramento, but in the end, he returned back to the top of the podium. Kinsey secured his fourth Masters gold medal of his career with another first-place javelin performance.

It’s not the end of the road for Kinsey as he continues to chase his dreams and compete in the javelin throw. However, his latest victory puts his entire journey into perspective, one that took him through multiple challenging seasons to see him back on top in the sport he loves.

“It’s just a great feeling,” Kinsey said. “You work so hard for years, and I worked so hard as a young athlete to try to get to the top in my sport and just to have an injury like that at my age, it definitely sets you back and you really have to just grind it out and rehab and do everything you need to do not only compete, but to just to get back to be able to function like you did prior to the injury. It took a lot to overcome that, but I was able to and blessed to go out there and get the win.”