Kade McCall is a professional hammer thrower from Idaho who throws a 16-pound metal ball. Throwers generate up to about 300 pounds of force by using velocity to heave the ball forward, and they train by running around in circles to build momentum. McCall describes hammer as both the hardest and the easiest activity at the same time. He competed at Kansas State, achieving a personal record and a No. 4 team placement in his final NCAA meet, and he earned NCAA First Team All-American honors in his final season. Now he competes professionally while managing his plants and maintaining a nutrition-focused routine. He also works at a coffee shop in Manhattan, Kansas, where he has added multiple tattoos and identifies with a queer, tattooed barista persona.
"“That's the thing about hammer,” he tells Queerty. “It's the hardest but the easiest thing at the same time.”"
"A track & field standout at Kansas State, McCall competed in his final NCAA meet this spring. He finished with a PR and placed No. 4 for the men's team overall, the highest finish for a K-State athlete since the 1950s. In his final season, the 24-year-old earned NCAA First Team All-American honors."
"Now competing professionally, McCall is gearing up for a series of meets this summer. But more immediately, the double kinesiology and integrated physiology major, who also has a masters in nutrition, has to tend to his 20-some odd plants."
"McCall may come off as an intimidating presence. But deep down, the bonafide plant dad says he most identifies as a “gay, queer, tatted, septum piercing barista.” For his day job, McCall works at a local coffee house in Manhattan, Kansas. He fits the stereotype to a tee: over the last three months, he's gotten six tattoos."
Read at Queerty
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