While the men’s hammer featured more competition at the top this year, the women’s hammer was once again the highlight event of the year. Anita Wlodarczyk is a generational athlete that has propelled the sport to a new level and once again led the way on this year’s rankings. But the competition for the other spots was fierce. Our complete rankings are below, featuring the top 10 throwers of 2017. Read more
There is always a lot of change after an Olympic year, but the men’s hammer throw underwent a big transformation in 2017. Just four athletes from the 2016 rankings managed to make it back on this year’s list. Six new athletes emerged including the next generation of throwers and some old names returning to the top. Below is our annual rankings for the men’s hammer. Check back this weekend for the women’s rankings. Read more
The best throwers in the world faced off at the World Championships this month for a chance at individual glory. At the same time, London also gave countries a chance to prove they were the best. Achieving the top team ranking is about more than producing one champion; it can only be achieved by having depth across multiple throwing events. As we have for the past two years, we ranked the top throwing countries by giving the top eight finishers in each event 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points respectively. The results this year were a bit surprising and showed a changing of the guard. Read more
Everyone knows that athletics is a global sport, but this year’s World Championships showed that once again. The IAAF has 215 member federations and 66 countries produced a top 8 finish in London. That includes multiple countries from each continent. But among those countries there were some clear winners and losers. Read more
For the past 10 days athletes fans have had their eyes on London, where the world’s best have competed at the world championships. It has been an action-packed meet where stars have fallen, new heroes have emerged, and anew controversy seems to be around every corner. On this week’s podcast we look back at our favorite moments from the championship, break down which countries had the best performances, and also analyze results in each throwing event. Read more
Anita Wlodarcyk captured gave us more drama than expected as a finger injury required her to come from behind for the win in yesterday’s women’s hammer final. Now all eyes turn to the men, who begin qualification tomorrow. If you thought the women’s hammer podium was wide open, the men’s will be even more so. There is a long list of contenders, and even more who could rise to the occasion. As Andrisu Gudzius and Mason Finley showed us in the discus on Saturday, all it takes is a personal best to bring someone out of the shadows and onto the podium. Read more
The 2017 World Championships kick off today in London. For hammer throwers the action starts tomorrow with the women’s qualification round. While the favorite is the surest bet of the entire meet, the women’s hammer will feature a wide open competition for the podium. Poland, China, and America bring the strongest teams of throwers with multiple medal hopefuls each. After a surprise Olympic bronze last summer, Sophie Hitchon will try to make another podium in front of a home crowd. And many other top throwers will join the battle too. Read more
Many of the other authors on HMMR Media have taken a look back at the world championships. Vern looked at what led Ashton Eaton to a new world record. Kibwé reflected on his own performance. And Martin looked at an interesting connection between first round fouls and making the finals. I wanted to answer a simple question: which country performed the best. So Martin and I compiled some statistics to help answer that question. Read more
I just got back from the World Championships and put a few thoughts together on my experience there for Throwholics yesterday. You can also read it below. For some of my thoughts heading into the championships you can also check out my last post. Read more
After an exciting men’s hammer throw competition over the weekend, the women step into the ring on Wednesday. As with the men the favorite is clear: Anita Wlodarczyk has a chance to help Poland caputre it second hammer throw gold and third hammer throw medal at the meet. But, also as with the men, the podium is very wide open. Silver and bronze had the same result in the men’s competition and less than two meters separated second place from seventh. Look for much of the same in the women’s competition. Read more
