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.

[citation needed] As of 2023[update] 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.

[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).

[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.

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] 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.

The traditional Highland games version of the event
Scottish hammer throw illustration from Frank R. Stockton's book Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy
Irish American John Flanagan in the hammer throw competition at the Summer Olympics 1908 in London
The contemporary version of the hammer throw
Athlete practicing the hammer throw event
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 )
Men's Hammer Throw Final – 28th Summer Universiade in Gwangju , South Korea, 2015 (Polish thrower Paweł Fajdek )