In anticipation, few events at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games seemed as predictable as the women&rsquo;s hammer.
World record-holder and world champion Mihaela Melinte of Romania and her closest rival, Olga Kuzenkova of Russia, had a lock on the gold and silver medals with only the order to be decided. The rest were battling for the bronze medal.
If that was the pre-ordained order, someone forgot to tell Kamila Skolimowska, who rose to the occasion to take the most unexpected gold medal of the Games. A month short of her 18th birthday and already world U18 champion and world U20 record-holder, the Polish teen may clearly have been one for the future &ndash; but few expected the future to arrive on 29 September 2000.
Skolimowska&rsquo;s victory completed a hammer double for Poland. Szymon Ziolkowski had taken the men&rsquo;s gold medal a few days earlier. Ziolkowski himself had just turned 24, though that seemed to make him almost a doddering veteran alongside his co-gold medallist.
Sydney was the first Olympics at which the women&rsquo;s hammer had been contested. The event had made its World Championships debut in Seville the previous year &ndash; Melinte and Kuzenokova the gold and silver medallists, respectively &ndash; and been introduced at European and Commonwealth level a year before that.
Skolimowska and Ziolkowski both established legacies, especially so in the case of Skolimowska. Before Sydney, Poland had taken just one Olympic and one World Championships bronze medal in men&rsquo;s hammer. In the most recent decade, Polish throwers Pawel Fajdek and Wojcech Nowicki have been dominant forces.
Skolimowska&rsquo;s impact was just as pronounced, with a direct link to 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk, who has dominated the event throughout the past 10 years, bringing others along in her wake.
Tragically, Skolimowska has not been around to enjoy this success. In February 2009, she died suddenly after suffering a pulmonary embolism while training on Portugal&rsquo;s Algarve coast. Fittingly, Wlodarczyk won the first of her (so far) four world titles later that year in Berlin. 
<div id="5f72fd41a9815b173832f8b1" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/fb3784d5-503f-4d79-9ca6-d43646d3c5af.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Kamila Skolimowska at the 2000 Olympic Games</div>
&nbsp;
<h3>Sydney 2000: the lead-up</h3>
As noted already, Skolimowska was not a gold medal fancy coming into Sydney 2000, but she was clearly an athlete of promise, a young thrower in an even younger event. She became European U20 champion at the age of 14, world U18 champion and a World Championships representative at 16.
Nonetheless, Skolimowska was not ranked in the likely top 10 in Track &amp; Field News&rsquo; preview, possibly reflecting her youth and her DNQ in Seville. Some impressive performances may have just missed the publishing deadline, too. Skolimowska threw a world U20 record of 70.66m in late August and defeated one of the medal favourites, Kirsten Munchow, just a week before the Games.
Still, even with Skolimowska coming to Sydney in the best form of her brief career, Melinte and Kuzenkova had more than four metres on her on that year&rsquo;s world list and boasted the year&rsquo;s 10 best throws between them. France&rsquo;s Manuela Montebrun was third on the list at 71.18m with Skolimowska fourth.
<h3>Sydney 2000: the competition</h3>
Kamila Skolimowska was ready to throw her best when the Olympic competition began. In pulling off an upset, though, it helps if things fall your way. She took care of what she could control, throwing 66.30m in the first qualifying pool behind Kuzenkova&rsquo;s overall lead of 70.60m.
Then things started to happen. Melinte had warmed up with the others in the second pool but no sooner had the throwers entered the stadium than she was belatedly informed of an earlier doping infraction and escorted back out. The Romanian team had been advised but the information had not been passed on to Melinte.
When throwing did get under way, Montebrun, who had thrown 71.18m in France three weeks earlier, could manage no farther than 57.77m. Suddenly two of the top four throwers for the year were out of contention.
Australia&rsquo;s Debbie Sosimenko led for two rounds in the final two days later. Despite fervent home crowd support, however, she could not improve on her opening 67.95m and finished fifth.
Skolimowska fouled her first throw, produced a 66.33m effort in the second but then upped the ante in the third round with a world U20 record of 71.16m to take the lead. Still, Kuzenkova threatened: a throw anywhere near her season&rsquo;s best, much less her outright best, would suffice. She moved to the silver medal position with 69.64m in the third round, then improved to 69.77m with her fourth throw.
But when she most needed to step up, the Russian thrower fouled her final two attempts and the first Olympic gold medal in the women&rsquo;s hammer belonged to Skolimowska. 35 days before her 18th birthday, she was Olympic champion.
&ldquo;While you see a chance, take it,&rdquo; the song goes. Skolimowska soon affirmed the truth of the adage. At the World U20 Championships in Chile, a few weeks later, she failed to qualify for the final. The following year she was fourth at the World Championships in Edmonton, then came back to Australia for two more big wins at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane and the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Melbourne.
<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Folimpijski%2Fvideos%2F3301029639982767%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=500" width="500" height="280" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The youngest-ever Olympic hammer champion finished fifth in defence of her title in Athens in 2004. Either side of that, she earned European silver in 2002 and European bronze in 2006. She returned to Athens in 2006 for the World Cup, winning with a PB of 75.29m. She extended her lifetime best to 76.83m in Doha in May 2007, moving to fourth on the world all-time list at that time.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in what would be her final international championships appearance, she failed to record a valid throw in the final. Her successor, Wlodarczyk, finished fourth.
<h3>London 2012: Wlodarczyk picks up the Skolimowska&rsquo;s gauntlet</h3>
With a world title and world record already to her name, Wlodarczyk went on to win the first of two Olympic gold medals in London in 2012.
Wlodarczyk also, quite literally, stepped into Skolimowska&rsquo;s shoes and put her fate in her late teammate&rsquo;s hands. As reported by Jon Mulkeen and Marta Mikiel for World Athletics in 2014:
&ldquo;(In London) Wlodarczyk wore throwing shoes and gloves that used to belong to her old friend, given to her by Skolimowska&rsquo;s family.
&ldquo;&rsquo;When I entered the Olympic stadium in London, I asked Kamila to be with me,&rsquo; said Wlodarczyk, whose original silver medal at those Games was upgraded to gold with the eventual disqualification of Tatyana Lysenko.
&ldquo;I won the medal thanks to her and I dedicated it to her.&rdquo;
Four years later, Wlodarczyk retained her title at the Rio 2016 Games, spectacularly crowning one of the morning sessions with a world record of 82.29m.
Len Johnson for World Athletics

Remembering Kamila Skolimoska, the first Olympic women's hammer throw champion, on the anniversary of her historic victory at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Twenty years after her Olympic triumph, Skolimowska's legacy lives on

When Anita Wlodarczyk finished ahead of fellow Polish hammer thrower Kamila Skolimowska at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, little did she know that it would be the last time she competed against her friend and compatriot.Skolimowska was the more experienced of the two, having won the Olympic title eight years earlier at the age of 17 and boasting a PB that was four metres farther than Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s. But Skolimowska failed to record a valid throw in the final, while Wlodarczyk finished a respectable sixth on her Olympic debut.Six months later, Skolimowska suddenly and unexpectedly died at the age of 26 due to a blood clot.&ldquo;She helped me a lot in my Olympic debut,&rdquo; said Wlodarczyk. &ldquo;She congratulated me and said I had to worthily represent my country. And I still do my best to fulfil that responsibility.&rdquo;Four years later, at the London 2012 Olympics, Wlodarczyk wore throwing shoes and gloves that used to belong to her old friend, given to her by Skolimowska&rsquo;s family.&ldquo;When I entered the Olympic stadium in London, I asked Kamila to be with me,&rdquo; said Wlodarczyk, who took silver at those Games. &ldquo;I won the medal thanks to her and I dedicated it to her.&rdquo;Ever since Skolimowska&rsquo;s death, Wlodarczyk had formed a close bond with the former Olympic champion&rsquo;s family and she visits them whenever she is in their home town of Warsaw.&ldquo;After Kamila died, we were left with tons of throwing equipment, good quality professional stuff,&rdquo; said Skolimowska&rsquo;s father, Robert Skolimowski. &ldquo;I divided it among several promising girls, but Anita received the best part.&ldquo;We watched the London Olympic final as if our daughter was in it. We cried from excitement, jumped with joy and popped champagne at the end. Exactly how we used to.&rdquo;When she landed back in Poland after the London Olympics, Wlodarczyk was greeted at the airport by Skolimowski with 77 roses, one for each metre she threw in the British capital. &ldquo;Anita competing at the London Olympics was very valuable for us and a great pleasure to watch,&rdquo; added Skolimowski. &ldquo;Kamila used to say she would call it a career after London and focus on family. Life went a different way, but with her shoes and gloves being worn by Anita, she had a symbolic presence. Somehow, we feel satisfied; as if a chapter has been closed.<h3>Breakthrough in Berlin</h3> The year in which Skolimowska died coincided with the season when Wlodarczyk&rsquo;s career began to take off.Aged 23 at the time, Wlodarczyk went into 2009 with a PB of 72.80m. By the end of the year, she was the world champion and world record-holder.Before competing at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Wlodarczyk had improved her PB on five occasions and went to the German capital with a best of 77.20m and a string of seven victories. Many still favoured the home favourite Betty Heidler, but Wlodarczyk pulled out a 77.96m throw in the second round to take gold with a world record. So exuberant was her celebration, she injured her ankle in the process.It was the first of three world records and three major titles for Wlodarczyk.She extended her world record to 78.30m in June 2010, but just like before, she injured herself in the wake of that performance and could only finish third at the European Championships in Barcelona.The back injury lingered throughout 2011 and she finished fifth at that year&rsquo;s World Championships, but she was back to her best in 2012, winning the European title before going on to take Olympic silver.Another silver medal followed in 2013, when she set a personal best of 78.46m at the World Championships. Earlier this year she improved on that mark by 30 centimetres to successfully defend her European title; a prelude to her world record two weeks later.<h3>Third time lucky</h3> Unlike her previous two world records, when Wlodarczyk threw 79.58m in Berlin this September, it wasn&rsquo;t followed by an injury. This time, the injury came several months prior.Her winter training started, as it always does, in Cetniewo in Poland, where she trained for two months. She then went to Stellenbosch in South Africa for one month, and then to Chula Vista in the US. It was there where she picked up a knee injury and missed six weeks of training.&ldquo;I started training in mid-May and my first competition was Ostrava in June,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Normally I start to compete a month earlier or even more. But who knows what would have happened had I been able to train all that time? Maybe that six-week pause helped. I couldn&rsquo;t wait to start training again; I had double the motivation.&rdquo;Once her season got underway, no one would have known about her injury troubles. After finishing second in Ostrava with a respectable 76.41m, she won all of her other competitions in 2014, including the European Championships.&ldquo;After the injury, I was worried I wouldn&rsquo;t be fit for the European Championships,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Maybe had I started training two weeks earlier, perhaps the world record would have happened in Zurich. When it didn&rsquo;t happen there, I really wanted to do it at the Skolimowska Memorial meeting but it was so stressful that it didn&rsquo;t happen, so when I went to Berlin I thought that it must be third-time lucky. I told myself, &lsquo;if not now, then when?&rsquo;&ldquo;I was so happy to break it there,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;That stadium holds special memories for me because it was where, five years earlier, I broke the world record to win the world title. After losing my world record three years ago, it was really nice to have it back again.&rdquo;But less than 24 hours before the competition, Wlodarczyk was worried that she might not be at her best.&ldquo;The day before, I went shopping for three hours and I was worried my legs would be tired, so I went back to the hotel to rest. The competition was held during the day time instead of the evening, so I wasn&rsquo;t sure if I&rsquo;d feel different, but I arrived at the stadium and saw 50,000 fans who were cheering &ndash; not just for Betty (Heidler) but for me as well &ndash; and I also saw my family, who travel to most of my competitions.&rdquo;At the end of the competition, Wlodarczyk had become the only athlete to set a world record in an outdoor track and field event in 2014.<h3>Quest to become first 80-metre thrower</h3> Before she started in athletics, Wlodarczyk was a speedway cyclist and won team gold at the 1998 European Youth Championships. At 13 years old, she was the youngest &ndash; and the only female &ndash; on the team. Her experience in that sport, she says, helped to build strength in her legs from an early age.But her injury problems in 2010 and 2011 meant that she was unable to lift heavy weights. &ldquo;In training, my biggest focus is on technique,&rdquo; said Wlodarczyk, who is coached by former hammer thrower Krzysztof Kaliszewski.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m much weaker than my rivals. I only squat 150kg, which is nothing compared to other hammer throwers, but I can&rsquo;t do anything about that. It means I simply have to focus on what I can do, which is technique and speed. I do little gym work, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s wrong.&rdquo;Although she is keen to regain her world title next year in Beijing, her main focus is becoming the first woman to throw farther than 80 metres. She is now less than half the length of a hammer away from that goal.She has in fact already surpassed that mark, but when she did so, unfortunately her hammer landed outside the sector. German analysts worked out that her foul in the final round of this year&rsquo;s European Championships was about 80.30m. Now she wants to do it officially.&ldquo;Breaking the world record makes me feel that 80 metres is definitely possible,&rdquo; said Wlodarczyk, who has surpassed the 76, 77 and 78-metre barriers more times than any other woman in history. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to have broken the world record for a third time, and hopefully I&rsquo;ll hold on to it for much longer than before. I dream of being the first woman to throw 80 metres. &ldquo;I know that there&rsquo;s still room for improvement. I know that 80 metres is possible; perhaps even 81.50m.&ldquo;A world record means more to me than being a world champion,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;Your reign as a world champion only lasts for two years, but you can be a world record-holder for much longer than that.&rdquo;And what better setting to achieve such a feat than the venue for next year's World Championships in Beijing, the Birds Nest Stadium; the location of Wlodarczyk's final competition against Skolimowska.Jon Mulkeen and Marta Mikiel for the IAAF

When Anita Wlodarczyk finished ahead of fellow Polish hammer thrower Kamila Skolimowska at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, little did she know that it would be the last time she competed against her friend and compatriot.

Inspired by Skolimowska, Wlodarczyk aims to become first to throw 80 metres

The IAAF and the athletics world today mourns the loss of Poland's Kamila Skolimowska who won the gold medal in the women&rsquo;s hammer at the Sydney Olympics, and died suddenly yesterday (18) at the age of 26.Skolimowska collapsed at a training camp in Faro, Portugal and died in an ambulance on her way to hospital. Born on 4 November 1982, Skolimowska became the youngest ever Olympic hammer champion, man or woman, in Sydney 2000 at the age of 17 years and 331 days with a then personal best throw of 71.16m. It was the first time that the women's hammer had been&nbsp;staged at the Olympics. The European junior champion in 1997 at the age of 14 and the inaugural world youth champion in 1999, between 1999 and 2001 she set five world junior hammer records. Skolimowska also won at the Goodwill Games and Grand Prix Final in 2001, and took gold at the European Under-23 Championships in 2003 and&nbsp;World University Games in 2005.As well as her Olympic title, as a senior athlete she also took the European silver medal in 2002 and four years later achieved the bronze medal at the continental championships. In 2006, she also achieved victory at the IAAF World Cup in Athens.Skolimowska qualified for the Beijing Olympic final but then had no valid throws in the final itself.Her personal best and national record was 76.83m, set in May 2007.Agencies and IAAF

The IAAF and the athletics world today mourns the loss of Poland's Kamila Skolimowska who won the gold medal in the women’s hammer at the Sydney Olympics, and died suddenly yesterday (18) at the age of 26.

Twenty years after her Olympic triumph, Skolimowska's legacy lives on

Inspired by Skolimowska, Wlodarczyk aims to become first to throw 80 metres

Sydney Olympic champion Skolimowska collapses and dies at age of 26