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Scottish hammer throw illustration from Frank R.Stockton's book
"Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy"
A more conventional rig using a wire
World Athletics Championships 2007 in Osaka - Victory Ceremony for
Hammer Throw with winner Ivan Tikhan (middle)
American John Flanagan in the hammer throw competition at the
Summer Olympics 1908 in London
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. Such competitions
are still part of the Scottish Highland Games,
where the implement used is a steel or lead weight at the end of a
cane handle.
Like other throwing events, the competition is decided by who
can throw the ball the farthest. The men's hammer weighs 16 pounds (7.257 kg) and measures 3 feet
11 3⁄4
inches (121.5 cm) in length and the women's hammer weighs
8.82 lb (4 kg) and 3 feet 11 inches
(119.5 cm) in length. Competitors gain maximum distance by
swinging the hammer above their head to set up the circular motion.
Then they apply force and pick up speed by completing one to four
turns in the circle. In competition, most throwers turn three or
four times. The ball moves in a circular path, gradually increasing
in velocity with each turn with the high point of the ball toward
the sector and the low point at the back of the circle. The thrower
releases the ball from the front of the circle. The two most
important factors for a long throw are the angle of release and the
speed of the ball.
While the men's hammer throw has been in the Olympic Games since
1900, the IAAF
did not start ratifying women's marks until 1995. Women's hammer
throw was first included in the Olympics at the 2000
Summer Olympics in Sydney, after having been included in the
World Championships a year earlier.
The current world record for the men's hammer was set by Yuriy Sedykh, who
threw 86.74 metres (284 ft 7 in) at the European athletics championships held
in Stuttgart, West Germany in 1986.
The current world record for the women's hammer was set by Anita
Włodarczyk, who threw 77.96 metres
(255 ft 9 in) in Berlin, Germany on 22 August 2009 in 2009 World
Championships in Athletics.
Best Year
Performance
Men's
Seasons Best
Women's
Seasons Best
Top 10
Men's best throwers of all
time
- (Updated September 5, 2009)
Women's best throwers of
all time
- (Updated September 5, 2009)
See also
External
links
Olga
Kuzenkova (RUS)
Svetlana Sudak (BLR)
Mihaela
Melinte (ROM)
Yipsi
Moreno (CUB)
Aksana
Miankova (BLR)
Anita
Włodarczyk (POL)
Yuriy
Sedykh (URS)
Koji
Murofushi (JPN)
Adrián
Annus (HUN)
Betty
Heidler (GER)
Martina
Hrašnová (SVK)
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