Ethan Katzberg in the hammer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
Ethan Katzberg became the youngest man ever to become a world and Olympic hammer champion, blowing the competition apart at the Paris 2024 Games with an opening throw of 84.12m that stood up as the best of the night.
The 22-year-old Canadian added the Olympic gold medal to the world title he won in Budapest last year, while Hungary's Bence Halasz took silver and Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kokhan claimed bronze.
Rather fittingly, defending champion Wojciech Nowicki got proceedings under way, kicking off the final with 77.42m. Home thrower Yann Chaussinand was next up and the Frenchman sent his hammer out to 78.99m, which briefly put him in the lead until it was ruled to be a foul several moments later.
Kokhan’s opening effort of 78.54m was then promoted to the leading mark, but it didn’t last long. Katzberg, ninth in the throwing order, opened his account with a stunning 84.12m effort, the second-best throw in Olympic history and the second-best throw of the Canadian’s career after the 84.38m PB he set at altitude in Nairobi earlier this year.
More significantly, it was farther than any other finalist had ever thrown in their life.
It meant that if anyone wanted to wrestle gold away from Katzberg’s grasp, they’d have to perform as they never had done before. Spoiler alert: no one did.
Norway’s Eivind Henriksen, who took a surprise silver in Tokyo three years ago, arrived in Paris with a season’s best of just 76.51m. After throwing a season’s best of 77.14m in qualifying, he improved on that with 79.18m in round two, putting him third behind Kokhan’s round-two effort of 79.39m.
World bronze medallist Halasz was another to improve in the second round, throwing 78.84m. Katzberg’s second-round throw was a foul, but he still led by almost five metres.
Chaussinand recorded another foul in round two, but he pulled one out of the bag in round three with his 77.38m putting him in eighth place – just enough to earn three more throws.
Five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek, who hasn’t always had the best of times at the Olympic Games, threw 78.57m in round three to advance safely through to the second half of the competition.
Katzberg landed another throw comfortably behind the 80-metre line, which was initially ruled to be a foul but was later credited as 82.28m. Halasz, meanwhile, improved to 79.97m to move into second place.
Fajdek improved slightly to 78.80m in round four, though it wasn’t enough to move any higher in the standings, keeping the Pole in fifth. No one else improved in rounds four or five.
Nowicki’s reign as Olympic champion officially came to an end in the final round as the Pole finished his series with 75.92m, no improvement on the opening throw of 77.42m that put him in seventh. It was the first time the 35-year-old had ever failed to reach a podium in a world, European or Olympic final.
His teammate Fajdek also didn’t improve in the final round, finishing fifth, though this was a markedly better result than he achieved at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics when he failed to reach the final.
Moments later it was Kokhan’s turn for his final throw. The Ukrainian sent his hammer hurtling towards the 80-metre line, but it came up slightly short at 79.24m, no improvement on his second-round effort of 79.39m. His bronze medal was an upgrade on the fourth-place position he achieved at the last Games in Tokyo.
Halasz also ended strongly with 79.82m, 15cm shy of his best throw of the night, to secure the silver medal for Hungary – his best ever finish at a global championships and a memorable way to mark the 27th birthday he was celebrating today.
Katzberg, now confirmed as Olympic champion, stepped into the circle one last time, and once again sent his hammer flying out beyond the 80-metre line. It wasn’t an improvement on his best mark, and it was ruled a foul, but he had already made history by becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic hammer title.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
| MEN'S HAMMER MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Ethan Katzberg (CAN) | 84.12m |
| 🥈 | Bence Halasz (HUN) | 79.97m |
| 🥉 | Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR) | 79.39m |
| Full results | ||
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