How it works
Athletes throw a metal ball (16lb for men, 8.8lb for women) that’s attached to a grip by a steel wire no longer than 4ft (1.22m) as far as possible while remaining inside a 7ft-diameter (2.135m) circle.
In order for the throw to be measured the ball must land inside a marked 35-degree sector and the athlete must not leave the circle before it has landed, and then only from the rear half of the circle.
The thrower usually makes four spins before releasing the ball.
Competitors will commonly throw four or six times per competition.
In the event of a tie, the winner will be the athlete with the second-longest throw, and so on.
History
Legend traces the concept of the hammer throw to approximately 2000BC and the Tailteann Games in Tara, Ireland, where Celtic warrior Culchulainn gripped a chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it around his head and threw it a supernatural distance.
The sport caught on, but the wheel was replaced by a boulder attached to a wooden handle.
The use of a sledgehammer is considered to have originated in the Scottish Highlands, and a 16th century drawing shows Henry VIII throwing a blacksmith’s hammer.
The discipline has been regularly contested in England, Scotland and Ireland since the mid-19th century, but men had been throwing the hammer in the Olympics for 100 years before women were finally allowed to join the fray in 2000.
Did you know
World record-holder Yuriy Sedykh is one of the few competitors to spin three times in the circle rather than the more conventional four.
Gold standard
Russia, Belarus, Poland, Finland and Germany have ruled the male roost in recent times. The same nations, plus Cuba, are regularly to the fore in the women’s events.
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Yuriy Sedykh
The Ukrainian won two Olympic (1976 and 1980), one world (1981) and three European (1978, 1982 and 1986) golds. His 1986 world record — 86.74m — still stands.
Yipsi Moreno
Since the introduction of the women’s hammer at major championships a decade ago, few can match the record of the powerful Cuban: she’s won two world golds (2001 and 2003) and an Olympic silver (2004).