The Men's Hammer Throw

Hammer throw

The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...

event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 17. With reigning champion Ivan Tsikhan banned from competition for doping offences, the 2008 Olympic gold and silver medallists Primož Kozmus

Primož Kozmus

Primož Kozmus is a Slovenian hammer thrower and the current Olympic champion. His gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin made him the first ever Slovenian athlete to win both titles.His personal best throw and Slovenian record is 82.58 metres,...

 and Krisztián Pars

Krisztián Pars

Krisztián Pars is a Hungarian hammer thrower. He has represented Hungary at the Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships.His personal best throw is 82.45 metres, achieved...

 were the favourites in the event. Pars entered the competition with a world-leading throw of 81.43 m and an 18 competition win-streak. Belarusian Yuriy Shayunov and Russian Aleksey Zagornyi

Aleksey Zagornyi

Aleksey Zagornyi is a Russian hammer thrower. His personal best is 83.43 metres, achieved in February 2002 in Adler.-Achievements:-References:*...

, the only other athletes to have thrown over eighty metres twice that season prior to the championships, were identified as possible podium finishers. Nicola Vizzoni

Nicola Vizzoni

Nicola Vizzoni is a male hammer thrower from Italy. He won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and ten years after at the 2010 European Athletics Championships...

, Igor Sokolov

Igor Sokolov

Igor Sokolov is a former Soviet sport shooter and Olympic champion.He received a gold medal in 50 m Running Target at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.-References:...

, Olli-Pekka Karjalainen

Olli-Pekka Karjalainen

Olli-Pekka Karjalainen is a Finnish hammer thrower.The 1998 World Junior Champion, Karjalainen is the world junior record holder with 78.33 metres . His personal best throw is 83.30, achieved in July 2004 in Lahti....

, Szymon Ziółkowski, Koji Murofushi

Koji Murofushi

is a Japanese hammer thrower. He has been among the world elite since the 2001 World Championships, where he won the silver medal. He was olympic champion during the Athens Olympics. In 2011, He was crowned world champion.-Career:...

, and Libor Charfreitag

Libor Charfreitag

Libor Charfreitag is a hammer thrower from Slovakia. His personal best throw is 81.81 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Prague.He was chosen Slovak athlete of the year in 2003...

 were all predicted to have an outside chance of a medal.

On the first day of competition, Kozmus was the first to pass the automatic qualifying mark of 77.50 m. Pars had the best effort of the day with 78.68 m, while former world champion

World Champions in athletics (men)

- 100 m :- 200 m :- 400 m :- 800 m :- 1500 m :- 5000 m :- 10000 m :- 110 m hurdles :- 400 m hurdles :- 3000 m steeplechase :- 4 x 100 metres relay :- 4 x 400 metres relay :- Marathon :- 20 km race walk :- 50 km race walk :...

 Ziółkowski led group A with a throw of 77.89 m. Aspiring medallists Sokolov, Shayunov and Karjalainen all failed to progress to the final of the competition. On the final day of the hammer throw

Hammer throw

The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...

, the favourite Kozmus delivered a best of 80.15 m to take the gold medal, Slovenia's first ever in the World Championships. Ziółkowski's 79.30 m, the best of his season, was enough to take the silver – his first medal at a major championships since 2005

2005 World Championships in Athletics

The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...

. The level of the competition, however, failed to live up to expectations: the world-leader Pars started poorly and, after a number of fouls, he never regained ground and finished in fourth place. Furthermore, the performance of bronze medallist Zagornyi (78.09) was the shortest-ever distance of a medal winner in championship history.

Medalists

Gold
Silver
Bronze

Abbreviations

• All results shown are in metres

  Q	automatic qualification
  q	qualification by rank
  DNS	did not start
  NM	no mark
  WR	world record
  AR	area record
  NR	national record
  PB	personal best
  SB	season best

Records

World record		86.74	Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... , West Germany West Germany West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....	30 August 1986
Championship record		83.89	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	8 August 2005
World Leading		81.43	Veszprém Veszprém Veszprém is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name.-Location:... , Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	25 April 2009
African record		80.63	Durban Durban Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism... , South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...	15 April 2004
Asian record		84.86	Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... , Czech Republic Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....	29 June 2003
North American record		82.52	Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	7 September 1996
South American record		76.42	Trieste Trieste Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city... , Italy	25 July 2001
European record		86.74	Stuttgart, West Germany	30 August 1986
Oceanian record		79.29	Varaždin Varaždin Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at... , Croatia Croatia Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...	6 July 2002

Qualification standards

A standard	B standard
77.50m	74.30m

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
August 15, 2009	12:00	Qualification
August 17, 2009	18:05	Final

Qualification

Qualification: Qualifying Performance 77.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank	Group	Athlete	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
	B	Krisztián Pars Krisztián Pars Krisztián Pars is a Hungarian hammer thrower. He has represented Hungary at the Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships.His personal best throw is 82.45 metres, achieved...		72.94	78.68		78.68	Q
	A	Szymon Ziółkowski		77.89			77.89	Q
	B	Pavel Kryvitski Pavel Kryvitski Pavel Kryvitski is a male hammer thrower from Belarus. He set his personal best in the men's hammer throw event on July 19, 2008 in Minsk.-Achievements:-References:...		70.70	72.14	77.85	77.85	Q
	A	Sergey Lytvynov Jr. Sergey Lytvynov Jr. Sergej Sergeyevich Litvinov , former German hammer thrower, , with a personal best of 78.98 with the 7.26 kg hammer , set on 30 April 2010 in Hengelo...		77.68			77.68	Q
	A	Primož Kozmus Primož Kozmus Primož Kozmus is a Slovenian hammer thrower and the current Olympic champion. His gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin made him the first ever Slovenian athlete to win both titles.His personal best throw and Slovenian record is 82.58 metres,...		77.55			77.55	Q
	A	Igor Vinichenko Igor Vinichenko Igor Vinichenko is a male hammer thrower from Russia. His personal best throw is 80.00 metres, achieved in February 2007 in Adler. He competed at the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final.-Achievements:-References:...		77.54			77.54	Q
	A	Nicola Vizzoni Nicola Vizzoni Nicola Vizzoni is a male hammer thrower from Italy. He won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and ten years after at the 2010 European Athletics Championships...		76.71		76.95	76.95	q
	B	Markus Esser Markus Esser Markus Esser is a male hammer thrower from Germany. His personal best is 81.10 metres, achieved in July 2006 in Leverkusen. This ranks him eighth among German hammer throwers, behind Ralf Haber, Heinz Weis, Karsten Kobs, Günter Rodehau, Holger Klose, Christoph Sahner and Klaus Ploghaus....		76.81	76.67		76.81	q
	A	András Haklits András Haklits András Haklits is a Croatian hammer thrower. He represented Hungary until July 1998.He finished tenth at the 2006 European Athletics Championships and eighth at the 2008 Olympic Games...		75.50	76.39	75.73	76.39	q
10	B	Libor Charfreitag Libor Charfreitag Libor Charfreitag is a hammer thrower from Slovakia. His personal best throw is 81.81 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Prague.He was chosen Slovak athlete of the year in 2003...		69.71	75.39	76.29	76.29	q
11	A	Dilshod Nazarov Dilshod Nazarov Dilshod Nazarov is a Tajikistani athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the Olympic Games on two occasions...		73.84	74.73	75.83	75.83	q
12	B	Aleksey Zagornyi Aleksey Zagornyi Aleksey Zagornyi is a Russian hammer thrower. His personal best is 83.43 metres, achieved in February 2002 in Adler.-Achievements:-References:*...		75.38	74.93	73.75	75.38	q
13	A	Ali Al-Zinkawi			73.82	75.10	75.10
14	B	Lukáš Melich Lukáš Melich Lukáš Melich is a male hammer thrower from the Czech Republic. His personal best throw is 79.36 metres, achieved in July 2005 in Turnov.-Achievements:-References:...		74.40	72.98	74.47	74.47
15	B	Thomas J. Freeman		71.38	74.19	72.58	74.19
16	A	Olli-Pekka Karjalainen Olli-Pekka Karjalainen Olli-Pekka Karjalainen is a Finnish hammer thrower.The 1998 World Junior Champion, Karjalainen is the world junior record holder with 78.33 metres . His personal best throw is 83.30, achieved in July 2004 in Lahti....			73.25	74.09	74.09
17	B	Igors Sokolovs Igors Sokolovs Igors Sokolovs is a Latvian hammer thrower.He competed at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final....		73.96	73.97	73.12	73.97
18	B	David Söderberg David Söderberg David Söderberg is a male hammer thrower from Finland. His personal best throw is 78.83 metres, achieved in July 2003 in Lahti....		73.69	73.14	73.56	73.69
19	B	Jérôme Bortoluzzi			73.09	70.69	73.09
20	A	Mohsen El Anany Mohsen El Anany Mohsen El Anany is an Egyptian hammer thrower. He was born in Tunis, Tunisia.He started as a runner and was chosen for the throw events by the Egyptian coach Emad Fayez, following that El Anany was recruited by former African shot put champion Nagui Asaad, who was setting up a throwing school...		71.42	72.68	72.05	72.68
21	A	Michael Mai		72.58		67.47	72.58
22	B	Olexiy Sokyrskiyy		70.67		72.56	72.56
23	B	Alexandros Papadimitriou Alexandros Papadimitriou Alexandros Papadimitriou is a Greek hammer thrower. His personal best throw is 80.45 metres, achieved in July 2000 in Athens. This is the current Greek record. He was born in Larissa.-Achievements:-References:**...				72.02	72.02
24	B	Javier Cienfuegos Javier Cienfuegos Javier Cienfuegos Pinilla is a Spanish hammer thrower and the junior world record holder. Javier represents his club CA Playas de Castellón, and is coached by Raul Jimeno. His personal best and junior world record with the 6 kg hammer of 82,96, was set in Madrid June 17, 2009...		69.60	71.63	72.01	72.01
25	B	Dzmitry Shako Dzmitry Shako Dzmitry Shako is a male hammer thrower from Belarus. He set his personal best in the men's hammer throw event on July 27, 2008 in Minsk, Belarus.-Achievements:-References:...		71.80	70.57		71.80
26	A	Yury Shayunou Yury Shayunou Yury Shayunou is a Belarussian hammer thrower, coached by his father Victor Shayunou. Yury Shayunou has a personal best of 80.72 meters with the 7.26 kg implement, achieved on July 6, 2009 in Minsk at the Romuald Klim Trophy...		71.37			71.37
27	B	Eşref Apak Esref Apak Eşref Apak is a Turkish hammer thrower.Apak took part at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and won a surprising bronze medal with 79.51 m after the gold medalist Hungarian athlete Adrián Annus was disqualified by IOC for a doping violation...			70.70		70.70
28	A	A. G. Kruger A. G. Kruger Alfred George Kruger III is a male hammer thrower from the United States. His personal best is 79.26 metres, achieved in August 2004 in Berea.He finished fourth at the 2006 IAAF World Cup...		67.40		70.19	70.19
29	A	Artem Rubanko Artem Rubanko Artem Borysovych Rubanko is a Ukrainian hammer thrower. His personal best throw is 80.44 metres, achieved in May 2004 in Kiev. He competed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final.-Achievements:-References:*...			69.81		69.81
30	B	Juan Ignacio Cerra Juan Ignacio Cerra Juan Ignacio Cerra is a male hammer thrower from Argentina. His personal best throw is 76.42 metres, achieved in July 2001 in Trieste. This is also the South American record....		66.77	67.98	69.37	69.37
31	B	Bergur Ingi Pétursson		67.32	68.62		68.62
32	A	Ainārs Vaičulens		65.70	66.89		66.89
33	A	Amanmurad Hommadov		57.39	56.46		57.39

} || A ||align=left| Chris Harmse

Chris Harmse

Christiaan Harmse is a South African hammer thrower. He has broken the African record seven times, and holds the championship record for both the African Championships and All-Africa Games....

 ||align=left| || || || || ||
|}

Key: NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result), Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	Result	Notes
	Primož Kozmus Primož Kozmus Primož Kozmus is a Slovenian hammer thrower and the current Olympic champion. His gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin made him the first ever Slovenian athlete to win both titles.His personal best throw and Slovenian record is 82.58 metres,...		75.14	79.74	77.21	79.28	80.15	80.84	80.84	SB
	Szymon Ziółkowski		77.44	79.30	77.85	77.66	78.09	76.89	79.30	SB
	Aleksey Zagornyi Aleksey Zagornyi Aleksey Zagornyi is a Russian hammer thrower. His personal best is 83.43 metres, achieved in February 2002 in Adler.-Achievements:-References:*...		76.11		77.42		75.11	78.09	78.09
	Krisztián Pars Krisztián Pars Krisztián Pars is a Hungarian hammer thrower. He has represented Hungary at the Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships.His personal best throw is 82.45 metres, achieved...		75.51			77.45			77.45
	Sergej Litvinov		74.50	74.49	75.88	76.58	76.00	74.45	76.58
	Markus Esser Markus Esser Markus Esser is a male hammer thrower from Germany. His personal best is 81.10 metres, achieved in July 2006 in Leverkusen. This ranks him eighth among German hammer throwers, behind Ralf Haber, Heinz Weis, Karsten Kobs, Günter Rodehau, Holger Klose, Christoph Sahner and Klaus Ploghaus....		68.07	76.27	74.07				76.27
	András Haklits András Haklits András Haklits is a Croatian hammer thrower. He represented Hungary until July 1998.He finished tenth at the 2006 European Athletics Championships and eighth at the 2008 Olympic Games...		72.60	75.12	75.09		74.82	76.26	76.26
	Pavel Kryvitski Pavel Kryvitski Pavel Kryvitski is a male hammer thrower from Belarus. He set his personal best in the men's hammer throw event on July 19, 2008 in Minsk.-Achievements:-References:...		73.72		72.73			76.00	76.00
	Nicola Vizzoni Nicola Vizzoni Nicola Vizzoni is a male hammer thrower from Italy. He won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and ten years after at the 2010 European Athletics Championships...				73.70				73.70
10	Libor Charfreitag Libor Charfreitag Libor Charfreitag is a hammer thrower from Slovakia. His personal best throw is 81.81 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Prague.He was chosen Slovak athlete of the year in 2003...			72.63					72.63
11	Dilshod Nazarov Dilshod Nazarov Dilshod Nazarov is a Tajikistani athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the Olympic Games on two occasions...				71.69				71.69
	Igor Vinichenko Igor Vinichenko Igor Vinichenko is a male hammer thrower from Russia. His personal best throw is 80.00 metres, achieved in February 2007 in Adler. He competed at the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final.-Achievements:-References:...

Key: NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result), SB = Seasonal best