Ethan Katzberg in the hammer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2024 in each area of the sport.
The series continues with a review of the throws. It will be followed over the coming days by reviews of all the other event groups.
Men’s shot put
Season top list
| 23.13m | Joe Kovacs (USA) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 22.98m | Leonardo Fabbri (ITA) | Brussels | 14 September |
| 22.93m | Ryan Crouser (USA) | Zagreb | 7 September |
| 22.59m | Payton Otterdahl (USA) | Des Moines | 24 April |
| 22.31m | Rajindra Campbell (JAM) | Zagreb | 7 September |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Ryan Crouser (USA) | 1520 |
| 2 | Joe Kovacs (USA) | 1470 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fabbri (ITA) | 1465 |
| 4 | Payton Otterdahl (USA) | 1419 |
| 5 | Rajindra Campbell (JAM) | 1414 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Ryan Crouser (USA) | 22.90m SB |
| 🥈 | Joe Kovacs (USA) | 22.15m |
| 🥉 | Rajindra Campbell (JAM) | 22.15m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Ryan Crouser (USA) 22.90m
World Indoor Championships: Ryan Crouser (USA) 22.77m
Wanda Diamond League: Leonardo Fabbri (ITA) 22.98m
European Championships: Leonardo Fabbri (ITA) 22.45m
African Championships: Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (NGR) 21.14m
Oceanian Championships: Nick Palmer (NZL) 19.98m
World U20 Championships: Jarno Van Daalen (NED) 20.76m
Season snapshot
- A glance at the bare global championship results this year would suggest that world record-holder Ryan Crouser dominated as he has for most of the past decade, but looks can be deceptive. Elbow and back injuries made this a challenging year for Crouser, but he showed his championship qualities by claiming both of the global titles on offer, bringing his career tally to six.
Three-time Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser celebrates in Paris (© Getty Images)
- Everything seemed in order when he won his first world indoor crown in Glasgow in March with a championship record of 22.77m, but his season veered dramatically off-track afterwards as he battled injury. However, he rediscovered his form when it counted in the Olympic final in Paris, where any of his best three throws would have won the gold medal. He completed a historic treble of Olympic shot put titles (2016, 2020, 2024) and had the luxury of passing on his final throw after rain disrupted the last round of the final.
- His career-long sparring partner, compatriot Joe Kovacs needed that last throw to clinch a third consecutive Olympic silver medal and found the power even as the rain tumbled down, recording 22.15m to snatch second place from Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell on countback, as Campbell claimed the first global medal of his career.
- Kovacs held on to the world lead, courtesy of his 23.13m effort in May, the only 23-metre throw of the year, while Italy’s European champion Leonardo Fabbri took out his frustration at missing an Olympic medal by claiming a national record of 22.98m to win the Diamond League final in Brussels in September. That remained the second biggest throw of the year, slightly ahead of his 22.95m in Savona in May, and sealed an admirably consistent season for the Italian.
Women’s shot put
Season top list
| 20.68m | Sarah Mitton (CAN) | Fleetwood | 11 May |
| 20.64m | Chase Jackson (USA) | Lausanne | 22 August |
| 20.33m | Jessica Schilder (GER) | Hengelo | 7 July |
| 20.19m (i) | Yemisi Ogunleye (GER) | Glasgow | 1 March |
| 20.01m | Jaida Ross (USA) | Fayetteville | 23 May |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Chase Jackson (USA) | 1416 |
| 2 | Yemisi Ogunleye (GER) | 1407 |
| 3 | Sarah Mitton (CAN) | 1403 |
| 4 | Maddison-Lee Wesche (NZL) | 1368 |
| 5 | Song Jiayuan (CHN) | 1337 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Yemisi Ogunleye (GER) | 20.00m PB |
| 🥈 | Maddison-Lee Wesche (NZL) | 19.86m PB |
| 🥉 | Song Jiayuan (CHN) | 19.32m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Yemisi Ogunleye (GER) 20.00m
World Indoor Championships: Sarah Mitton (CAN) 20.22m
Wanda Diamond League: Sarah Mitton (CAN) 20.25m
European Championships: Jessica Schilder (NED) 18.77m
African Championships: Ashley Erasmus (RSA) 18.17m
Oceanian Championships: Atamaama Tu’utafaiva (TGA) 16.24m
World U20 Championships: Akaoma Odeluga (USA) 17.34m
Season snapshot
- The Olympic final in Paris became a version of ‘Who Dares Wins’ after untimely rain left the circle slippery, forcing the contenders to adjust to the difficult conditions. Eventual Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye actually slid on to one knee on her first attempt, but did not allow that to faze her.
- The German carried the confidence of her first 20-metre throw to earn silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March through the season and delivered when it counted in the final round in Paris, pushing the shot out to 20m exactly to claim an unexpected gold medal with an outdoor personal best.
Yemisi Ogunleye in the shot put at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Mattia Ozbot)
- New Zealand’s 2018 world U20 champion Maddison-Lee Wesche had made the running for most of the final. She led until the fifth round and retook the lead early in the sixth round, but had to content herself with the silver medal and a personal best of 19.86m. She extended her country’s exceptional record in this event to five consecutive Games with a New Zealander on the podium. The great Valerie Adams won medals at the four previous Games, including gold in 2008 and 2012.
- China’s Song Jiayuan, who had contemplated retirement after the Tokyo Games, was rewarded for her perseverance with the bronze medal (19.32m), outshining her more illustrious compatriot, the Tokyo champion and twice world champion Gong Lijao (fifth, 19.27m).
- Unfortunately for Canada’s Sarah Mitton, her world-leading performance of 20.68m (also a national record) came in May, off the back of her victory at the World Indoors (20.22m), but she could not summon that form in Paris. However she bounced back to win the Diamond League final in Brussels in September with another big throw (20.25m), one of six competitions this year in which she bettered 20m.
- Two-time world champion Chase Jackson's failure to make the Olympic final was one of the biggest shocks in this discipline in 2024, but the US thrower's otherwise consistent season – which included four victories on the Diamond League circuit – led to her topping the world rankings this year.
Men’s discus
Season top list
| 74.35m | Mykolas Alekna (LTU) | Ramona | 14 April |
| 71.48m | Alex Rose (SAM) | Allendale | 11 May |
| 70.48m | Kristjan Ceh (SLO) | Doha | 10 May |
| 70.00m | Roje Stona (JAM) | Paris | 7 August |
| 69.96m | Matt Denny (AUS) | Brussels | 13 September |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Mykolas Alekna (LTU) | 1458 |
| 2 | Matt Denny (AUS) | 1431 |
| 3 | Kristjan Ceh (SLO) | 1416 |
| 4 | Roje Stona (JAM) | 1377 |
| 5 | Lukas Weisshaidinger (AUT) | 1352 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Roje Stona (JAM) | 70.00m OR, PB |
| 🥈 | Mykolas Alekna (LTU) | 69.97m |
| 🥉 | Matt Denny (AUS) | 69.31m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Roje Stona (JAM) 70.00m
Wanda Diamond League: Matt Denny (AUS) 69.96m
European Championships: Kristjan Ceh (SLO) 68.08m
African Championships: Oussama Khennoussi (ALG) 63.90m
Oceanian Championships: Darcy Miller (AUS) 52.27m
World U20 Championships: Bryce Ruland (USA) 62.59m
Season snapshot
- Lithuania’s son of a gun Mykolas Alekna woke up the world’s discus throwers in April when he smashed the oldest men’s world record in the book, spinning the plate out to 74.35m in the Oklahoma Throws Series Invitational at ‘Throw Town’, Ramona, which offered perfect conditions for the event. That comfortably bettered the 35-year-old record of 74.08m established by Jurgen Schult.
Mykolas Alekna, winner of the discus in Oslo (© Getty Images)
- It was one of four 70-plus performances the 21-year-old Alekna produced before the Olympics but he was unable to find that range in Paris, as Jamaica’s Roje Stona achieved one of the biggest upsets of the Games, setting an Olympic record of 70.00m to snatch the gold medal, becoming the first Jamaican to win an Olympic throwing title.
- Alekna led the competition early with a 69.97m throw that broke his Olympic champion father Virglijus’ 2004 Olympic record (69.89m) but had to accept defeat after Stona unleashed the biggest throw of his life by almost a metre to take the lead in the fourth round. Coached by shot put champion Ryan Crouser, the Jamaican had finished second behind Alekna at that famous event in Ramona but found another gear in Paris.
- Bronze medallist Matt Denny of Australia also rose to the unprecedented standard of the event, recording 69.31m to clinch his first Olympic medal. Denny went on from there to win the Diamond League final in Brussels in a national record of 69.96m, leaving him just shy of the 70-metre club. Four other men breached that barrier this season in a banner year for the event.
Women’s discus
Season top list
| 73.09m | Yaimi Perez (CUB) | Ramona | 13 April |
| 70.89m | Valarie Allman (USA) | Eugene | 24 June |
| 68.81m | Sandra Elkasevic (CRO) | Zagreb | 3 September |
| 67.89m | Feng Bin (CHN) | Oslo | 30 May |
| 67.31m | Marika Steinaker (GER) | Wiesbaden | 11 May |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Valarie Allman (USA) | 1483 |
| 2 | Feng Bin (CHN) | 1422 |
| 3 | Sandra Elkasevic (CRO) | 1380 |
| 4 | Yaimi Perez (CUB) | 1380 |
| 5 | Jorinde Van Klinken (NED) | 1333 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Valarie Allman (USA) | 69.50m |
| 🥈 | Feng Bin (CHN) | 67.51m |
| 🥉 | Sandra Elkasevic (CRO) | 67.51m SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Valarie Allman (USA) 69.50m
Wanda Diamond League: Valarie Allman (USA) 68.47m
European Championships: Sandra Elkasevic (CRO) 67.04m
African Championships: Ashley Anumba (NGR) 59.30m
Oceanian Championships: Taryn Gollshewsky (AUS) 60.96m
World U20 Championships: Han Bingyang (CHN) 57.57m
Season snapshot
- Former ballet dancer Valarie Allman once again waltzed away with the biggest prizes of the year, finishing 2024 as Olympic champion, Diamond League champion and the world No.1.
- The Tokyo champion summoned all her grace and power to dominate the Olympic arena for the second consecutive Games. Any of her four best throws would have been enough to win and her eventual margin of victory was just shy of two metres. Her qualifying throw for the final of 69.59m was the biggest seen in the Olympic arena since 1996.
Valarie Allman in action at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Dan Vernon)
- China’s Feng Bin (67.51m) took the silver medal on countback from Croatia’s 34-year-old great Sandra Elkasevic (nee Perkovic), whose bronze took her personal Olympic tally to three medals after her victories in 2012 and 2016. Elkasevic also claimed her seventh consecutive European title in Rome in June, her reign in that arena going back to 2010.
- But the award for longevity in Paris went to home favourite Melina Robert-Michon, who competed at a record-equalling seventh Olympic Games and reached the final at the age of 45.
- Cuba’s Yaimi Perez led the season list with an outlier of 73.09m in April, which added to the legend of ‘Throw Town’ Ramona, Oklahoma for offering perfect conditions for discus throwers. But there was no denying that Allman was the dominant performer of the year, with the next six throws on the list. She was the only other athlete to throw beyond 70 metres and did it twice.
Men’s hammer
Season top list
| 84.39m | Ethan Katzberg (CAN) | Nairobi | 20 April |
| 81.53m | Valeriy Pronkin (RUS) | Sochi | 21 May |
| 81.14m | Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR) | Zagreb | 8 September |
| 80.95m | Wojciech Nowicki (POL) | Rome | 9 June |
| 80.49m | Bence Halasz (HUN) | Rome | 9 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Ethan Katzberg (CAN) 1458 | 1458 |
| 2 | Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR) | 1417 |
| 3 | Pawel Fajdek (POL) | 1357 |
| 4 | Wojciech Nowicki (POL) | 1357 |
| 5 | Bence Halasz (HUN) | 1349 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Ethan Katzberg (CAN) | 84.12m |
| 🥈 | Bence Halasz (HUN) | 79.97m |
| 🥉 | Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR) | 79.39m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Ethan Katzberg (CAN) 84.12m
European Championships: Wojciech Nowicki (POL) 80.95m
African Championships: Mostafa Elgamel (EGY) 72.88m
Oceanian Championships: Anthony Nobilo (NZL) 65.18m
World U20 Championships: Iosif Kesidis (CYP) 82.80m
Season snapshot
- Bidding to become the youngest man to complete the world-Olympic title double, Canada’s Ethan Katzberg was nerveless as he produced a monster throw of 84.12m in the first round in Paris to take the gold medal out of the hands of all comers. It was the second biggest throw in Olympic history and farther than any of his competitors had ever achieved.
- Try as they might through the next five rounds, the other contenders could not match Katzberg, who became the first Canadian to win an Olympic title in this event. Hungary’s Bence Halasz, on his 27th birthday, produced his best championship performance to claim the silver (79.97m), with Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan taking the bronze (79.39m).
- The two Polish throwers who had dominated this event before Katzberg emerged in Budapest last year, defending Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki and five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek, were shut out of the podium, confirming a changing of the guard, although 35-year-old Nowicki did claim the European title in Rome (80.95m).
Ethan Katzberg in action at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi (© Kelly Ayodi)
- To underline his superiority, 22-year-old Katzberg threw even farther at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in April, his 84.39m personal best leading the season’s top list and elevating him to ninth on the world all-time list. Given his relative youth, he may move some way up that list before he’s done. Only two men in history have thrown beyond 85 metres and their marks date from 1986.
Women’s hammer
Season top list
| 79.92m | Brooke Andersen (USA) | Tucson | 4 May |
| 77.76m | Camryn Rogers (CAN) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 77.16m | DeAnna Price (USA) | Los Angeles | 17 May |
| 75.99m | Janee’ Kassanavoid (USA) | Nairobi | 20 April |
| 75.95m | Zalina Marghieva (MDA) | Balchik | 11 May |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Camryn Rogers (CAN) | 1388 |
| 2 | Brooke Andersen (USA) | 1350 |
| 3 | Annette Echikunwoke (USA) | 1305 |
| 4 | Janee’ Kassanavoid (USA) | 1296 |
| 5 | Zhao Jie (CHN) | 1290 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Camryn Rogers (CAN) | 76.97m |
| 🥈 | Annette Echikunwoke (USA) | 75.48m SB |
| 🥉 | Zhao Jie (CHN) | 74.27m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Camryn Rogers (CAN) 76.97m
European Championships: Sara Fantini (ITA) 74.18m
African Championships: Zahra Tatar (ALG) 67.82m
Oceanian Championships: Lauren Bruce (NZL) 69.99m
World U20 Championships: Zhang Jiale (CHN) 68.95m
Season snapshot
- USA’s Brooke Andersen, the 2002 world champion, set the early standard with a 79.92m throw in May that remained the world lead throughout the year, but she could not find that form in Paris, where Canada’s world champion Camryn Rogers unified the global titles.
- Rogers (76.97m) won a see-sawing final from surprise US champion Annette Echikunwoke (75.45m) and China’s Zhao Jie (74.27m), underlining the North American ascendance in this event. Canada’s global dominance of the hammer throw was confirmed as Rogers completed the same world-Olympic double as her compatriot Ethan Katzberg in Paris.
Camryn Rogers in the hammer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Mattia Ozbot)
- Evergreen triple Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland fell just shy of reaching a fourth consecutive podium, finishing fourth just two days short of her 39th birthday.
- North America’s dominance of the women’s event is reflected in both the season top list and the world rankings where the top four are either from Canada or the US. However, China remains a force in the event, with world U20 winner Zhang Jiale leading the next generation.
Men’s javelin
Season top list
| 92.97m | Arshad Nadeem (PAK) | Paris | 8 August |
| 90.61m | Anderson Peters (GRN) | Lausanne | 22 August |
| 90.20m | Max Dehning (GER) | Halle | 25 February |
| 89.49m | Neeraj Chopra (IND) | Lausanne | 22 August |
| 88.65m | Jakub Vadlejch (CZE) | Rome | 12 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Anderson Peters (GRN) | 1431 |
| 2 | Neeraj Chopra (IND) | 1423 |
| 3 | Jakub Vadlejch (CZE) | 1387 |
| 4 | Julian Weber (GER) | 1378 |
| 5 | Julius Yego (KEN) | 1306 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Arshad Nadeem (PAK) | 92.97m OR, AR |
| 🥈 | Neeraj Chopra (IND) | 89.45m SB |
| 🥉 | Anderson Peters (GRN) | 88.54m |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Arshad Nadeem (PAK) 92.97m
Wanda Diamond League: Anderson Peters (GRN) 87.87m
European Championships: Jakub Vadlejch (CZE) 88.65m
African Championships: Julius Yego (KEN) 80.24m
Oceanian Championships: Nash Lowis (AUS) 79.67m
World U20 Championships: Tom Tersek (SLO) 76.81m
Season snapshot
- There was huge expectation around the looming showdown between South Asian rivals Neeraj Chopra (Olympic and world champion) and Arshad Nadeem (Commonwealth champion and world silver medallist) in Paris and the Olympic final did not disappoint.
- India’s Chopra led the qualifying round with 89.34m, but Nadeem set the final alight with his huge second attempt of 92.97m, an Olympic record and the biggest throw in the world for two years, which lifted him to No.6 on the world all-time list.
Javelin champion Arshad Nadeem at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- Chopra responded with his best throw of the competition (89.45m), which moved him into second place, but then fouled his next four attempts looking for extra power to get back on terms with his Pakistani competitor.
- Nadeem confirmed his superiority with another 90-plus throw in the final round (91.79m), the second biggest of his career, and became the first Pakistani athlete to win both an Olympic medal and an Olympic gold medal in athletics. He was also Pakistan’s first Olympic gold medallist in any sport for 32 years.
- Two-time world champion Anderson Peters finally broke through to earn an Olympic medal, claiming the bronze (88.54m) by just four centimetres from European champion Jakub Vadlejch. In total, six men threw beyond 87 metres in an Olympic final for the ages. Peters maintained his form best to the end of the season, winning the Diamond League final in Brussels with 87.87m.
- Notably, 19-year-old German thrower Max Dehning joined the 90-metre club in February, launching the spear 90.20m in Halle in February. He was unable to sustain that standard through the year, with his next best being 81.78m, but he remains one to watch for the future.
Women’s javelin
Season top list
| 66.70m | Flor Ruiz Hurtado (COL) | Cuiaba | 12 May |
| 66.27m | Mackenzie Little (AUS) | London | 20 July |
| 66.13m | Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) | Brussels | 14 September |
| 66.06m | Victoria Hudson (AUT) | Eisenstadt | 22 May |
| 65.64m | Adriana Vilagos (SRB) | Zagreb | 8 September |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) | 1396 |
| 2 | Adriana Vilagos (SRB) | 1349 |
| 3 | Mackenzie Little (AUS) | 1309 |
| 4 | Flor Ruiz Hurtado (COL) | 1293 |
| 5 | Jo-Ane Van Dyk (RSA) | 1292 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) | 65.80m SB |
| 🥈 | Jo-Ane Van Dyk (RSA) | 63.93m |
| 🥉 | Nikola Ogrodnikova (CZE) | 63.68m SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) 65.80m
Wanda Diamond League: Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) 66.13m
European Championships: Victoria Hudson (AUT) 64.62m
African Championships: Jo-Ane Van Dyk (RSA) 57.03m
Oceanian Championships: Mackenzie Little (AUS) 61.09m
World U20 Championships: Yan Ziyi (CHN) 63.05m
Season snapshot
- The women’s javelin was on a slow burn this year, with only a handful of throws beyond 65 metres leading into the Olympics, led by world silver medallist Flor Ruiz Hurtado’s 66.70m effort in Brazil in May, which remained the top throw of the year. Australia’s Mackenzie Little set the standard in Europe going into the Games with 66.27m at the London Diamond League meeting, but the competition seemed wide open as the world’s athletes gathered in Paris.
- Japan’s world champion Haruka Kitaguchi shut the gate on the other contenders with her opening throw of 65.80m in the final, which no one else approached in the six rounds. Her triumph was the first by a Japanese woman in an Olympic throwing event and Japan’s only gold in the Stade de France.
Haruka Kitaguchi in the javelin at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- This was the first time since 2004 that a throw beyond 66 metres was not required for gold but Kitaguchi was still a clear winner. African champion Jo-Ane Van Dyk claimed the silver medal for South Africa (63.93m) just ahead of Czech thrower Nikola Ogrodnikova (63.68m).
- Kitaguchi had a troubled preparation for Paris but once she found her form she carried it through to the end of the season, winning the Diamond League final in Brussels with a season’s best of 66.13m.
- It may have been a more interesting competition in Paris if Serbia’s rising star Adriana Vilagos had not been forced out of the final with an injury, as she was throwing solidly beyond 65 metres both before and after the Games, putting together the most consistent season of any of the leading contenders.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
