Gyula Zsivótzky took silver, Hungary's fourth medal in the last four Games in the men's hammer throw.

Vasily Rudenkov of the Soviet Union was the favorite over defending champion Connolly.

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final.

In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 60.00 metres advanced to the final.

The six highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.