The decade in review: men’s hammer throw world rankings
Who was the best male hammer thrower of the 2010s? Every year we rank the top 10 hammer throwers in the world. With the decade coming to an end, we crunched the numbers to rank the top throwers of the decade and highlight some cool statistics and trends that emerged over the last 10 years.
Methods
To create our rankings we simply compiled the results for the last ten years and gave points for each placing. Each place was given points: first place was given 10 points, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Tiebreakers were given to the athlete that had reached the highest ranked best season. Remaining tiebreakers were give to the athlete who was first appeared in the rankings in the earliest year. Complete past rankings can be viewed here: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011.
Please note that Dilshod Nazarov was provisionally banned in September 2019, based on a retest of a sample from the 2011 World Championships. He still appears in these rankings, but if the ban is upheld on appeal, his disqualified results will be removed from consideration. All other athletes in the rankings who have served bans already have had such adjustments made where needed.
Highlights from the 2010s
The 2010s was the decade of Pawel Fajdek and Krisztian Pars. The pair combined for 8 of 10 top rankings, and 5 of 7 global gold medals. Fajdek ended up as the top thrower of the decade after in impressive four 1st place ranks, three 2nd place, and one 3rd place over the last 8 years. The event also showed the top throwers have good staying power. Over the decade half other points were claimed by the top 6 hammer throwers, meaning there were some big repeat names at the top each year. Both Fajdek and third-ranked Nazarov appeared on the rankings 8 times each.
Key statistics and trends
| Number of throwers appearing on the rankings: | 35 |
| Number of countries represented: | 21 countries |
| Country with most athletes: | Belarus – 7 athletes ranked |
| Countries with the most points: | Poland (130) and Hungary (76) |
| Most top ranks: | Krisztian Pars and Pawel Fajdek – each top ranked 4 times |
| Most years ranked: | Pawel Fajdek and Dilshod Nazarov – 8 times each |
| Most global titles: | Pawel Fajdek – 4-time World Champion in 2013, 205, 2017, and 2019 |
| Most global medals: | Pawel Fajdek and Wojciech Nowicki – 4 medals each |
| Banned athletes in the rankings: | 4 – Quentin Bigot and Ivan Tikhon earned rankings after coming back from doping bans. Pawel Kryvistki was banned after being ranked. Dilshod Nazarov is currently provisionally suspended based on a retest from 2011. |
| Youngest athlete ranked: | Mykhaylo Kokhan – ranked 8th in 2019 at age 18 |
| Oldest athlete ranked: | Nicola Vizzoni – ranked 9th in 2013 at age 40 |
Complete decade rankings
| Rank | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pawel Fajdek (POL) | 75 |
| 2 | Krisztian Pars (HUN) | 59 |
| 3 | Dilshod Nazarov (TJK) | 53 |
| 4 | Wojciech Nowicki (POL) | 40 |
| 5 | Koji Murofushi (JPN | 28 |
| 6 | Primoz Kozmus (SLO) | 26 |
| 7 | Sergei Litvinov (GER/RUS) | 25 |
| 8 | Marcel Lomnicky (SVK) | 23 |
| 9 | Bence Halasz (HUN) | 17 |
| 10 | Nick Miller (GBR) | 15 |
| 11 | Szymon Ziolkowski (POL) | 15 |
| 12 | Quentin Bigot (FRA) | 14 |
| 13 | Pawel Bareisha (BLR) | 13 |
| 14 | Mostafa Al-Gamal (EGY) | 13 |
| 15 | Pawel Kryvitski (BLR) | 13 |
| 16 | Lukas Melich (CZE) | 12 |
| 17 | Ashraf Amgad El Seify (QAT) | 11 |
| 18 | Aleksey Sokirskiy (RUS/UKR) | 10 |
| 19 | Libor Charfreitag (SVK) | 9 |
| 20 | Ivan Tikhon (BLR) | 8 |
| 21 | Valeriy Pronkin (RUS) | 8 |
| 22 | Sergei Marghiev (MDA) | 8 |
| 23 | Markus Esser (GER) | 7 |
| 24 | Eivind Henriksen (NOR) | 7 |
| 25 | Nicola Vizzoni (ITA) | 7 |
| 26 | Kibwé Johnson (USA) | 7 |
| 27 | Aleksey Zagorniy (RUS) | 6 |
| 28 | Javier Cienfuegos (ESP) | 5 |
| 29 | David Söderberg (FIN) | 5 |
| 30 | Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR) | 3 |
| 31 | Hleb Dudarau (BLR) | 2 |
| 32 | Siarhei Kalamoyets (BLR) | 2 |
| 33 | Valeri Sviatokha (BLR) | 2 |
| 34 | Yuriy Shayunov (BLR) | 1 |
| 35 | Rudy Winkler (USA) | 1 |
