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History

Tradition traces it to the Tailteann Games in Tara, Ireland, around the year 1830 BC.³ 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.⁴ The wheel was later replaced by a rock with a wooden handle attached.⁵ A sledgehammer began to be used for the sport in Scotland and England during the Middle Ages.⁶ In current times, the hammer has changed to the more modern 16 lb. ball attached to a wire and a handle, but the Scottish hammer throw as seen in Highland Games still feature the older style of hammer throw with the rock and the solid wood handle.

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.

Competition

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.⁷ 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.⁸

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).⁹¹⁰ A violation of the rules results in a foul and the throw not being counted.

As of 2023 the men's hammer world record is held by Yuriy Sedykh, who threw 86.74 m (284 ft 6+3⁄4 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+3⁄4 in) during the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial on 28 August 2016. 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).¹¹ According to Russian doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, Sedykh was a heavy user of steroids, which Sedykh denied.¹²

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.¹³ 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).¹⁴ 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.¹⁵

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."¹⁶ For example, hammer throws resulted in four deaths in Europe in 2000 alone,¹⁷ and have caused deaths and permanent brain damage injuries in the United States too.¹⁸

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.¹⁹ 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°.²⁰ 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.²¹

All-time top 25

See also: Men's hammer throw world record progression and Women's hammer throw world record progression

Men

• Correct as of April 2024.²²

Annulled marks

• Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus also threw 86.73 in Brest on 3 July 2005. This performance was annulled due to doping offences.

Women

• Correct as of April 2025.²⁶

Annulled marks

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

• Tatyana Lysenko (Russia) 78.80 (2013) and 78.15 (2013).
• Aksana Miankova (Belarus) 78.69 and 78.19 (both 2012).
• Gulfiya Agafonova (Russia) 77.36 (2007).

Olympic medalists

Men

Women

World Championships medalists

Men

Medal table

Women

• v
• t
• e

Season's bests

See also

• Sport of athletics portal

• List of hammer throwers
• Keg-tossing

Notes and references

External links

• IAAF list of hammer-throw records in XML
• HammerThrow.org (information about the event, coaching tips and resources)
• Statistics
• Hammer Throw History (archived)
• World Athletics Hammer Throw

References

1. https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=175739a3-b6be-4e84-914c-15d7ce791665.pdf&urlslug=Terms%20and%20abbreviations [bare URL] https://www.worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=175739a3-b6be-4e84-914c-15d7ce791665.pdf&urlslug=Terms%20and%20abbreviations ↩

2. Hammer Throw Facts World Athletics https://worldathletics.org/disciplines/throws/hammer-throw ↩

3. 'Origins'. Hammer Throw, undated. Retrieved 28 January 2025 https://hammerthrow.org/what-is-the-hammer/origins/ ↩

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7. "Hammer Throw". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2022. https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/throws/hammer-throw ↩

8. Johannsen, Dana (1 August 2021). "Tokyo 2020: Why the Olympic hammer throw may become a new national obsession". Stuff. Retrieved 1 August 2021. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/125889648/tokyo-2020-why-the-olympic-hammer-throw-may-become-a-new-national-obsession ↩

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10. "Laying Out Sector Angles for the Track and Field Throwing Events" (PDF). USA Track & Field Pacific Northwest. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2022. The shot, discus, hammer & weight throw sector is 34.92º. This angle was chosen due to its simple geometry. http://www.pntf.org/officials/ivars/Throwing_Event_Sector_Angles_Rev_F1.pdf ↩

11. "Yuriy Sedykh, hammer world record holder, dies at 66". AP News. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2023. https://apnews.com/article/track-and-field-sports-europe-russia-moscow-62f7dd55278ba992439adf63ddfb0af1 ↩

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13. Horváth, Gábor; Hegedűs, Dénes; Slíz-Balogh, Judit (27 June 2023). "Change of world-record rankings of shot put and hammer throw due to the effects of Earth rotation and athlete's height". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 10409. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1310409H. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-36665-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 10300113. PMID 37369722. S2CID 259273858. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10300113 ↩

14. Horváth, Gábor; Hegedűs, Dénes; Slíz-Balogh, Judit (27 June 2023). "Change of world-record rankings of shot put and hammer throw due to the effects of Earth rotation and athlete's height". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 10409. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1310409H. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-36665-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 10300113. PMID 37369722. S2CID 259273858. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10300113 ↩

15. Horváth, Gábor; Hegedűs, Dénes; Slíz-Balogh, Judit (27 June 2023). "Change of world-record rankings of shot put and hammer throw due to the effects of Earth rotation and athlete's height". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 10409. Bibcode:2023NatSR..1310409H. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-36665-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 10300113. PMID 37369722. S2CID 259273858. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10300113 ↩

16. Academy, U. S. Sports (9 July 2010). "An Analysis of Hammer Throw Facility Safety Factors in NCAA Division I". The Sport Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023. https://thesportjournal.org/article/an-analysis-of-hammer-throw-facility-safety-factors-in-ncaa-division-i/ ↩

17. "Catastrophic Injuries Pull Focus On Field Event Safety". Athletic Business. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2023. https://www.athleticbusiness.com/facilities/outdoor-fields/article/15141454/catastrophic-injuries-pull-focus-on-field-event-safety ↩

18. Academy, U. S. Sports (9 July 2010). "An Analysis of Hammer Throw Facility Safety Factors in NCAA Division I". The Sport Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023. https://thesportjournal.org/article/an-analysis-of-hammer-throw-facility-safety-factors-in-ncaa-division-i/ ↩

19. Academy, U. S. Sports (9 July 2010). "An Analysis of Hammer Throw Facility Safety Factors in NCAA Division I". The Sport Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023. https://thesportjournal.org/article/an-analysis-of-hammer-throw-facility-safety-factors-in-ncaa-division-i/ ↩

20. Academy, U. S. Sports (9 July 2010). "An Analysis of Hammer Throw Facility Safety Factors in NCAA Division I". The Sport Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2023. https://thesportjournal.org/article/an-analysis-of-hammer-throw-facility-safety-factors-in-ncaa-division-i/ ↩

21. Laruel, Benoit; Wilson, Denis; Young, Ray (2004). "Hammer throw safety cages". New Studies in Athletics. 19 (1): 47–51. https://worldathletics.org/download/downloadnsa?filename=3bb61ca9-c2a4-49b5-bf3d-b56d1422d1f0.pdf&urlslug=hammer-throw-safety-cages ↩

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24. Phil Minshull (9 August 2015). "Fajdek throws 83.93m in Szczecin". IAAF. Retrieved 10 August 2015. http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/fajdek-wlodarczyk-61st-janusz-kusocinski-memo ↩

25. Roy Jordan (21 June 2021). "Bromell back to his best while Felix and Winkler make history in Eugene". World Athletics. Retrieved 4 July 2021. https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/us-trials-bromell-felix-winkler-harrison-scantling ↩

26. "All-time women's best hammer throw". World Athletics. Retrieved 25 May 2023. https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/throws/hammer-throw/outdoor/women/senior ↩

27. "Wlodarczyk extends hammer world record in Warsaw". IAAF. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016. https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/anita-wlodarczyk-hammer-world-record-warsaw ↩

28. Roy Jordan (27 June 2021). "Holloway, Thomas, Benjamin and Price shine on superb day in Eugene". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 July 2021. https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/us-olympic-trials-eugene-holloway-thomas-benjamin-price ↩

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32. "World U20 sprint records fall as Knighton runs 19.49 and Tebogo clocks 9.96". World Athletics. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022. https://worldathletics.org/news/report/world-u20-records-knighton-19-49-tebogo-9-96 ↩

33. "Women's Hammer Throw Results" (PDF). World Athletics. 17 July 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022. https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7137279/AT-HT-W-f----.RS6.pdf ↩

34. https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/news/valarie-allman-north-american-discus-record-ramona https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/news/valarie-allman-north-american-discus-record-ramona ↩

35. Madeline Ryan (27 May 2023). "Crouser breaks world shot put record with 23.56m in Los Angeles". World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2023. https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-continental-tour/news/los-angeles-grand-prix-2023 ↩

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37. Jon Mulkeen (8 June 2018). "Berry and Nowicki topple hammer favourites in Chorzow". IAAF. Retrieved 11 June 2018. https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/janusz-kusocinski-memorial-2018-berry ↩

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