Hammer throw

Throwing event in track and field competitions From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hammer throw

The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin.

Quick Facts Athletics, World records ...
Athletics
Hammer throw
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World records
Men Yuriy Sedykh 86.74 m (284 ft 6 in) (1986)
Women Anita Włodarczyk 82.98 m (272 ft 2 in) (2016)
Olympic records
Men Sergey Litvinov 84.80 m (278 ft 2 in) (1988)
Women Anita Włodarczyk 82.29 m (269 ft 11 in) (2016)
World Championship records
Men Ivan Tsikhan 83.63 m (274 ft 4 in) (2007)
Women Anita Włodarczyk 80.85 m (265 ft 3 in) (2015)
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The traditional Highland games version of the event

The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consists of a metal ball attached by a steel wire to a grip. These three components are each separate and can move independently. Both the size and weight of the ball vary between men's and women's events. The women's hammer weighs 4 kilograms (8.8 lb) for college and professional meets while the men's hammer weighs 7.26 kilograms (16.0 lb).[1]

History

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Scottish hammer throw illustration from Frank R. Stockton's book Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy
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Irish American John Flanagan in the hammer throw competition at the Summer Olympics 1908 in London

Tradition traces it to the Tailteann Games in Tara, Ireland, around the year 1830 BC.[2] Some time later the Celtic warrior Culchulainn reputedly took a chariot axle with a wheel still attached, spun it around and hurled it a long way.[3] The wheel was later replaced by a rock with a wooden handle attached.[3] A sledgehammer began to be used for the sport in Scotland and England during the Middle Ages.[3] In current times, the hammer has changed to the more modern 16 lb. ball attached to a wire and a handle, but the Scottish Highland Games still feature the older style of hammer throw with the rock and the solid wood handle.

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The contemporary version of the hammer throw

While the men's hammer throw has been part of the Olympics since 1900, the International Association of Athletics Federations did not start ratifying women's marks until 1995. Women's hammer throw was first included in the Olympics at the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia, after having been included in the World Championships a year earlier.[citation needed]

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Athlete practicing the hammer throw event

Competition

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The men's hammer weighs 7.26 kilograms (16.0 lb) and the women's weighs 4 kg (8.8 lb), with the wire in either case no more than 122 centimetres (48 in) in length.[4] Like the other throwing events, the competition is decided by who can throw the implement the farthest.

The throwing motion starts with the thrower swinging the hammer back-and-forth about two times to generate momentum. The thrower then makes three, four or (rarely) five full rotations using a complex heel-toe foot movement, spinning the hammer in a circular path and increasing its angular velocity with each rotation. Rather than spinning the hammer horizontally, it is instead spun in a plane that angles up towards the direction in which it will be launched. The thrower releases the hammer as its velocity is upward and toward the target.[5]

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Thrower inside a hammer cage, with the markings for the throwing circle and the throwing sector visible on the ground (women's final at the 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships)

Throws are made from a throwing circle. The thrower is not allowed to step outside the throwing circle before the hammer has landed and may only enter and exit from the rear of the throwing circle. The hammer must land within a 34.92º throwing sector that is centered on the throwing circle. The sector angle was chosen because it provides a sector whose bounds are easy to measure and lay out on a field (10 metres out from the center of the ring, 6 metres across).[6][7] A violation of the rules results in a foul and the throw not being counted.[citation needed]

As of 2023 the men's hammer world record is held by Yuriy Sedykh, who threw 86.74 m (284 ft 6+34 in) at the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany on 30 August. The world record for the women's hammer is held by Anita Włodarczyk, who threw 82.98 m (272 ft 2+34 in) during the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial on 28 August 2016.[citation needed] Sedykh's 1986 world record has been noted for its longevity, and for dating from "a time when track and field was starting to realize the scale of performance-enhancing drug use" (AP).[8] According to Russian doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, Sedykh was a heavy user of steroids, which Sedykh denied.[8]

The throwing distance depends on the velocity and height at which the hammer is released, but also on other factors that are not under the athlete's control.[9] In particular, Earth's rotation affects it via the location's latitude (due to the centrifugal force, the hammer will fly a bit further in a location closer to the equator) and to a lesser extent also via the throw's azimuth (i.e. its compass direction, due to Coriolis forces).[9] According to a 2023 study, such effects are large enough that the top 20 world-record rankings for both men and women at the time could somewhat change if they were adjusted for latitude and azimuth.[9]

Safety issues

Hammer throwing has been described as involving "inherent danger [...]. Athletes, coaches, and spectators participating in the event are at risk; steel hammers [...] are hurled through the air at great speeds, [travel] far distances, and [are] sometimes difficult to spot in flight."[10] For example, hammer throws resulted in four deaths in Europe in 2000 alone,[11] and have caused deaths and permanent brain damage injuries in the United States too.[10]

To mitigate such risks, a C-shaped "hammer cage" was introduced, which is built around the throwing circle, preventing the hammer from flying off in unwanted directions.[10] In 2004, the IAAF changed its rules to increase the mandatory height of hammer cages to 10m and reduce their "danger zone" angle to around 53°.[10] The change also moved the cage gates further away from the throwing circle, thus reducing the risk of a misdirected hammer bouncing back on the thrower.[12]

All-time top 25

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Perspective
Tables show data for two definitions of "Top 25" - the top 25 hammer throw marks and the top 25 athletes:
- denotes top performance for athletes in the top 25 hammer throw marks
- denotes lesser performances, still in the top 25 hammer throw marks, by repeat athletes
- denotes top performance (only) for other top 25 athletes who fall outside the top 25 hammer throw marks
Men's Hammer Throw Final – 28th Summer Universiade in Gwangju, South Korea, 2015 (Polish thrower Paweł Fajdek)

Men

  • Correct as of April 2024.[13]
More information Ath.#, Perf.# ...
Ath.#Perf.#MarkAthleteNationDatePlaceRef.
1186.74 m (284 ft 6 in)Yuriy Sedykh Soviet Union30 August 1986Stuttgart
286.66 m (284 ft 3 in)Sedykh #222 June 1986Tallinn
386.34 m (283 ft 3 in)Sedykh #33 July 1984Cork
2486.04 m (282 ft 3 in)Sergey Litvinov Soviet Union3 July 1986Dresden
585.74 m (281 ft 3 in)Litvinov #230 August 1986Stuttgart
685.68 m (281 ft 1 in)Sedykh #411 August 1986Budapest
785.60 m (280 ft 10 in)Sedykh #513 July 1984London
Sedykh #617 August 1984Moscow
985.20 m (279 ft 6 in)Litvinov #33 July 1984Cork
1085.14 m (279 ft 3 in)Litvinov #411 July 1986London
Sedykh #74 September 1988Moscow
1285.02 m (278 ft 11 in)Sedykh #820 August 1984Budapest
1384.92 m (278 ft 7 in)Sedykh #93 July 1986Dresden
31484.90 m (278 ft 6 in)Vadim Devyatovskiy Belarus21 July 2005Minsk
1584.88 m (278 ft 5 in)Litvinov #510 September 1986Rome
41684.86 m (278 ft 4 in)Koji Murofushi Japan29 June 2003Prague
1784.80 m (278 ft 2 in)Litvinov #626 September 1988Seoul
1884.72 m (277 ft 11 in)Sedykh #109 July 1986Moscow
1984.64 m (277 ft 8 in)Litvinov #79 July 1986Moscow
52084.62 m (277 ft 7 in)Igor Astapkovich Belarus6 June 1992Seville
2184.60 m (277 ft 6 in)Sedykh #1114 September 1984Tokyo
2284.58 m (277 ft 5 in)Sedykh #128 June 1986Leningrad
62384.51 m (277 ft 3 in)Ivan Tsikhan Belarus9 July 2008Grodno
72484.48 m (277 ft 1 in)Igor Nikulin Soviet Union12 July 1990Lausanne
2584.46 m (277 ft 1 in)Sedykh #1314 September 1988Vladivostok
Tsikhan #27 May 2004Minsk
8 84.40 m (276 ft 10 in) Jüri Tamm Soviet Union 9 September 1984 Banská Bystrica
9 84.38 m (276 ft 10 in) Ethan Katzberg Canada 20 April 2024 Nairobi [14]
10 84.19 m (276 ft 2 in) Adrián Annus Hungary 10 August 2003 Szombathely
11 83.93 m (275 ft 4 in) Paweł Fajdek Poland 9 August 2015 Szczecin [15]
12 83.68 m (274 ft 6 in) Tibor Gécsek Hungary 19 September 1998 Zalaegerszeg
13 83.46 m (273 ft 9 in) Andrey Abduvaliyev Soviet Union 26 May 1990 Adler
14 83.43 m (273 ft 8 in) Aleksey Zagornyi Russia 10 February 2002 Adler
15 83.40 m (273 ft 7 in) Ralf Haber East Germany 16 May 1988 Athens
16 83.38 m (273 ft 6 in) Szymon Ziółkowski Poland 5 August 2001 Edmonton
17 83.30 m (273 ft 3 in) Olli-Pekka Karjalainen Finland 14 July 2004 Lahti
18 83.04 m (272 ft 5 in) Heinz Weis Germany 29 June 1997 Frankfurt
19 83.00 m (272 ft 3 in) Balázs Kiss Hungary 4 June 1998 Saint-Denis
20 82.78 m (271 ft 7 in) Karsten Kobs Germany 26 June 1999 Dortmund
21 82.71 m (271 ft 4 in) Rudy Winkler United States 20 June 2021 Eugene [16]
22 82.69 m (271 ft 3 in) Krisztián Pars Hungary 16 August 2014 Zürich
23 82.64 m (271 ft 1 in) Günther Rodehau East Germany 3 August 1985 Dresden
24 82.62 m (271 ft 0 in) Sergey Kirmasov Russia 30 May 1998 Bryansk
Andriy Skvaruk Ukraine 27 April 2002 Kyiv
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Annulled marks

Women

  • Correct as of May 2024.[17]
More information Ath.#, Perf.# ...
Ath.#Perf.#MarkAthleteNationDatePlaceRef.
1182.98 m (272 ft 2 in)Anita Włodarczyk Poland28 August 2016Warsaw[18]
282.87 m (271 ft 10 in)Włodarczyk #229 July 2017Władysławowo
382.29 m (269 ft 11 in)Włodarczyk #315 August 2016Rio de Janeiro
481.08 m (266 ft 0 in)Włodarczyk #41 August 2015Władysławowo
580.85 m (265 ft 3 in)Włodarczyk #527 August 2015Beijing
680.79 m (265 ft 0 in)Włodarczyk #623 July 2017Białystok
2780.31 m (263 ft 5 in)DeAnna Price United States26 June 2021Eugene[19]
880.26 m (263 ft 3 in)Włodarczyk #712 July 2016Władysławowo
3980.16 m (262 ft 11 in)Brooke Andersen United States20 May 2023Tucson[20]
1079.92 m (262 ft 2 in)Andersen #24 May 2024Tucson[21]
1179.80 m (261 ft 9 in)Włodarczyk #815 August 2017Warsaw
Andersen #320 April 2023Charlottesville[22]
1379.73 m (261 ft 6 in)Włodarczyk #96 May 2017Doha
1479.72 m (261 ft 6 in)Włodarczyk #1027 June 2017Ostrava
1579.61 m (261 ft 2 in)Włodarczyk #1118 June 2016Szczecin
1679.59 m (261 ft 1 in)Włodarczyk #1222 July 2018Lublin
1779.58 m (261 ft 1 in)Włodarczyk #1331 August 2014Berlin
1879.48 m (260 ft 9 in)Włodarczyk #1421 May 2016Halle
1979.45 m (260 ft 7 in)Włodarczyk #1529 May 2016Forbach
42079.42 m (260 ft 6 in)Betty Heidler Germany21 May 2011Halle
2179.02 m (259 ft 3 in)Andersen #430 April 2022Tucson[23]
2278.96 m (259 ft 0 in)Andersen #517 July 2022Eugene[24]
2378.94 m (258 ft 11 in)Włodarczyk #1612 August 2018Berlin
2478.79 m (258 ft 5 in)Andersen #66 June 2023Bydgoszcz [25]
2578.76 m (258 ft 4 in)Włodarczyk #1715 August 2014Zürich
5 78.62 m (257 ft 11 in) Camryn Rogers Canada 26 May 2023 Westwood [26]
6 78.51 m (257 ft 6 in)Tatyana Lysenko Russia5 July 2012Cheboksary
7 78.00 m (255 ft 10 in) Janee' Kassanavoid United States 21 May 2022 Tucson [27]
8 77.78 m (255 ft 2 in) Gwen Berry United States 8 June 2018 Chorzów [28]
9 77.68 m (254 ft 10 in) Wang Zheng China 29 March 2014 Chengdu
10 77.33 m (253 ft 8 in) Zhang Wenxiu China 28 September 2014 Incheon
11 77.32 m (253 ft 8 in) Aksana Miankova Belarus 29 June 2008 Minsk
12 77.26 m (253 ft 5 in) Gulfiya Agafonova Russia 12 June 2006 Tula
13 77.13 m (253 ft 0 in) Oksana Kondratyeva Russia 30 June 2013 Zhukovskiy
14 77.10 m (252 ft 11 in) Hanna Skydan  Azerbaijan 23 August 2023 Budapest [29]
15 76.90 m (252 ft 3 in) Martina Hrašnová Slovakia 16 May 2009 Trnava
16 76.85 m (252 ft 1 in) Malwina Kopron Poland 26 August 2017 Taipei City [30]
17 76.83 m (252 ft 0 in) Kamila Skolimowska Poland 11 May 2007 Doha
18 76.72 m (251 ft 8 in) Mariya Bespalova Russia 23 June 2012 Zhukovsky
19 76.66 m (251 ft 6 in) Volha Tsander Belarus 21 July 2005 Minsk
20 76.63 m (251 ft 4 in) Yekaterina Khoroshikh Russia 24 June 2006 Zhukovsky
21 76.62 m (251 ft 4 in) Yipsi Moreno Cuba 9 September 2008 Zagreb
22 76.56 m (251 ft 2 in) Alena Matoshka Belarus 12 June 2012 Minsk
23 76.35 m (250 ft 5 in) Joanna Fiodorow Poland 28 September 2019 Doha [31]
24 76.33 m (250 ft 5 in) Darya Pchelnik Belarus 29 June 2008 Minsk
25 76.26 m (250 ft 2 in) Hanna Malyshik Belarus 27 April 2018 Brest
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Annulled marks

The following athletes had their performances (over 77.00 m) annulled due to doping offences:

Olympic medalists

Men

More information Games, Gold ...
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris
details
John Flanagan
 United States
Truxtun Hare
 United States
Josiah McCracken
 United States
1904 St. Louis
details
John Flanagan
 United States
John DeWitt
 United States
Ralph Rose
 United States
1908 London
details
John Flanagan
 United States
Matt McGrath
 United States
Con Walsh
 Canada
1912 Stockholm
details
Matt McGrath
 United States
Duncan Gillis
 Canada
Clarence Childs
 United States
1920 Antwerp
details
Patrick Ryan
 United States
Carl Johan Lind
 Sweden
Basil Bennett
 United States
1924 Paris
details
Fred Tootell
 United States
Matt McGrath
 United States
Malcolm Nokes
 Great Britain
1928 Amsterdam
details
Pat O'Callaghan
 Ireland
Ossian Skiöld
 Sweden
Edmund Black
 United States
1932 Los Angeles
details
Pat O'Callaghan
 Ireland
Ville Pörhölä
 Finland
Peter Zaremba
 United States
1936 Berlin
details
Karl Hein
 Germany
Erwin Blask
 Germany
Fred Warngård
 Sweden
1948 London
details
Imre Németh
 Hungary
Ivan Gubijan
 Yugoslavia
Robert Bennett
 United States
1952 Helsinki
details
József Csermák
 Hungary
Karl Storch
 Germany
Imre Németh
 Hungary
1956 Melbourne
details
Hal Connolly
 United States
Mikhail Krivonosov
 Soviet Union
Anatoliy Samotsvetov
 Soviet Union
1960 Rome
details
Vasily Rudenkov
 Soviet Union
Gyula Zsivótzky
 Hungary
Tadeusz Rut
 Poland
1964 Tokyo
details
Romuald Klim
 Soviet Union
Gyula Zsivótzky
 Hungary
Uwe Beyer
 United Team of Germany
1968 Mexico City
details
Gyula Zsivótzky
 Hungary
Romuald Klim
 Soviet Union
Lázár Lovász
 Hungary
1972 Munich
details
Anatoliy Bondarchuk
 Soviet Union
Jochen Sachse
 East Germany
Vasiliy Khmelevskiy
 Soviet Union
1976 Montreal
details
Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
Aleksey Spiridonov
 Soviet Union
Anatoliy Bondarchuk
 Soviet Union
1980 Moscow
details
Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
Sergey Litvinov
 Soviet Union
Jüri Tamm
 Soviet Union
1984 Los Angeles
details
Juha Tiainen
 Finland
Karl-Hans Riehm
 West Germany
Klaus Ploghaus
 West Germany
1988 Seoul
details
Sergey Litvinov
 Soviet Union
Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
Jüri Tamm
 Soviet Union
1992 Barcelona
details
Andrey Abduvaliyev
 Unified Team
Igor Astapkovich
 Unified Team
Igor Nikulin
 Unified Team
1996 Atlanta
details
Balázs Kiss
 Hungary
Lance Deal
 United States
Oleksandr Krykun
 Ukraine
2000 Sydney
details
Szymon Ziółkowski
 Poland
Nicola Vizzoni
 Italy
Igor Astapkovich
 Belarus
2004 Athens
details
Koji Murofushi
 Japan
Not awarded[32] Not awarded[32]
2008 Beijing
details
Primož Kozmus
 Slovenia
Vadim Devyatovskiy
 Belarus[33]
Ivan Tsikhan
 Belarus[33]
2012 London
details
Krisztián Pars
 Hungary
Primož Kozmus
 Slovenia
Koji Murofushi
 Japan
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Dilshod Nazarov
 Tajikistan
Ivan Tsikhan
 Belarus
Wojciech Nowicki
 Poland
2020 Tokyo
details
Wojciech Nowicki
 Poland
Eivind Henriksen
 Norway
Paweł Fajdek
 Poland
2024 Paris
details
Ethan Katzberg
 Canada
Bence Halász
 Hungary
Mykhaylo Kokhan
 Ukraine
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Women

World Championships medalists

Men

More information Championships, Gold ...
Championships Gold Silver Bronze
1983 Helsinki
details
 Sergey Litvinov (URS)  Yuriy Sedykh (URS)  Zdzisław Kwaśny (POL)
1987 Rome
details
 Sergey Litvinov (URS)  Jüri Tamm (URS)  Ralf Haber (GDR)
1991 Tokyo
details
 Yuriy Sedykh (URS)  Igor Astapkovich (URS)  Heinz Weis (GER)
1993 Stuttgart
details
 Andrey Abduvaliyev (TJK)  Igor Astapkovich (BLR)  Tibor Gécsek (HUN)
1995 Gothenburg
details
 Andrey Abduvaliyev (TJK)  Igor Astapkovich (BLR)  Tibor Gécsek (HUN)
1997 Athens
details
 Heinz Weis (GER)  Andriy Skvaruk (UKR)  Vasiliy Sidorenko (RUS)
1999 Seville
details
 Karsten Kobs (GER)  Zsolt Németh (HUN)  Vladyslav Piskunov (UKR)
2001 Edmonton
details
 Szymon Ziółkowski (POL)  Koji Murofushi (JPN)  Ilya Konovalov (RUS)
2003 Saint-Denis
details
 Ivan Tsikhan (BLR)  Adrián Annus (HUN)  Koji Murofushi (JPN)
2005 Helsinki
details
 Szymon Ziółkowski (POL)  Markus Esser (GER)  Olli-Pekka Karjalainen (FIN)
2007 Osaka
details
 Ivan Tsikhan (BLR)  Primož Kozmus (SLO)  Libor Charfreitag (SVK)
2009 Berlin
details
 Primož Kozmus (SLO)  Szymon Ziółkowski (POL)  Aleksey Zagornyi (RUS)
2011 Daegu
details
 Koji Murofushi (JPN)  Krisztián Pars (HUN)  Primož Kozmus (SLO)
2013 Moscow
details
 Paweł Fajdek (POL)  Krisztián Pars (HUN)  Lukáš Melich (CZE)
2015 Beijing
details
 Paweł Fajdek (POL)  Dilshod Nazarov (TJK)  Wojciech Nowicki (POL)
2017 London
details
 Paweł Fajdek (POL)  Valeriy Pronkin (ANA)  Wojciech Nowicki (POL)
2019 Doha
details
 Paweł Fajdek (POL)  Quentin Bigot (FRA)  Bence Halász (HUN)
 Wojciech Nowicki (POL)
2022 Eugene
details
 Paweł Fajdek (POL)  Wojciech Nowicki (POL)  Eivind Henriksen (NOR)
2023 Budapest
details
 Ethan Katzberg (CAN)  Wojciech Nowicki (POL)  Bence Halász (HUN)
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Medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Poland (POL)73414
2 Soviet Union (URS)3306
3 Belarus (BLR)2204
4 Germany (GER)2114
5 Tajikistan (TJK)2103
6 Japan (JPN)1113
 Slovenia (SLO)1113
8 Canada (CAN)1001
9 Hungary (HUN)0448
10 Ukraine (UKR)0112
11 France (FRA)0101
 Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA)0101
12 Russia (RUS)0033
13 Czech Republic (CZE)0011
 East Germany (GDR)0011
 Finland (FIN)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
 Slovakia (SVK)0011
Totals (17 entries)19192058
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Women

Season's bests

Summarize
Perspective
More information Year, Mark ...
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See also

Notes and references

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