HAMMER THROW

The hammer is the only throwing competition in which throwers may wear gloves.

Athletes throw a metal ball(HEAD)

(16lb/7.26kg for men with a diameter ranging between 110-130 millimeters )

(4kg/8.8lb for women with a diameter of 95-100 millimeters. )
for distance thats attached to a grip by a

steel wire no longer than 1.22m

while remaining inside a seven-foot (2.135m) diameter 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 three or four spins before releasing the ball. Athletes will commonly
throw four or six times per competition. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the athlete with the
next-best effort.

the 12 finalists have three attempts apiece, then the top eight competitors receive three
more attempts. The longest single throw during the final wins.
The results from the qualification rounds do not carry over into the final.

History
Legend traces the concept of the hammer throw to approximately 2000BC and the Tailteann
Games in Tara, Ireland, where the Celtic warrior Culchulainn gripped a chariot wheel by its axle,
whirled it around his head and threw it a huge distance.
The wheel was later replaced by a boulder attached to a wooden handle and the use of a
sledgehammer is considered to have originated in England and Scotland during the Middle Ages. A
16th century drawing shows the English king Henry VIII throwing a blacksmiths hammer.
The hammer was first contested by men at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris but the first global
competition for women was the 1999 IAAF World Championships.

The competition
Twelve competitors qualify for the Olympic hammer throw final. In the 2004 Games, 35
men and 48 women participated in their respective qualification rounds prior to the final.
86.74 Yuriy SEDYKH

URS men

80.26 Anita WLODARCZYK

POLAND women