Paris Olympics 2024: What is the weight of the hammer used in the hammer throw event?
Hammer throw, which is a part of the four track-and-field throwing events at the Olympics, is a historic sport that was developed many centuries ago. In this event, competitors hurl a metal ball, known as a 'hammer', for distance. The hammer is attached by a steel wire to a grip. The weight of the metal ball is 16lb (7.2kg) for the men and 8.8lb (4kg) for the women. The wire attached to the ball is no longer than 1.22m.
While hurling the hammer, the athlete usually makes three or four full and quick turns of the body with the hammer before making the throw. The thrower must remain inside a seven-foot (2.135m) diameter 'throwing circle'. Once thrown, the ball then must land inside a marked 35°-sector and the thrower is not allowed to leave the throwing circle until the metal mall has landed. Each athlete is usually given six chances per competition.
History of hammer throw and its inclusion at the Olympics
The sport of Hammer throw is said to have been founded centuries ago in the British Isles. The concept of the sport has been traced back to around 2000 BC. Legends say the game goes back as far as the Tailteann Games held in Ireland when the Celtic hero C`u Chullain gripped a chariot wheel by its axle and then whirled it around his head before throwing it a great distance. In later years, the wheel was substituted by a boulder attached to the end of a wooden handle.
While the men’s event was added as an Olympic sport at the 1900 games in Paris, it was only in the year 2000 that the women’s competition made its first appearance at the Summer Olympics, in Sydney.
Representing the Soviet Union, Sergey Litvinov holds the record for the furthest throw in the men’s category at the Olympics by achieving an 84.80m throw at Seoul in 1988. For women, Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk holds the record of 82.29m at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Wlodarczyk holds the record of being the first woman in history to cross the 80 meters mark with a hammer throw.