Sergey Litvinov

Along with Yuriy Siedykh, Sergey Litvinov was the top hammer thrower of the world in the 1980s. Although relatively small for a hammer thrower (180 cm), he compensated for his lack of height with great strength, and, as of 2014, he is still the shortest athlete to have thrown the hammer over 80 metres. As a youth, Litvinov competed in wrestling and played football before taking up athletics and hammer throwing in high school.

Litvinov won the Olympic gold in 1988 and silver in 1980 and probably missed a third Olympic medal in 1984, when the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics. He instead competed at the 1984 Friendship Games, winning a bronze medal. At the World Championships, Litvinov won the 1983 and 1987 titles, adding a 1986 silver and 1982 bronze at the European Championships. He was Soviet Champion in 1979 and 1983 and set three world records– 81.66 (1980), 83.98 (1982) and 84.14 (1983). Litvinov initially retired from sports after the 1988 Olympics, but made a short comeback in 1993 to compete at the 1993 World Championships. Before the championships, Litvinov threw 82.16 to win the Russian title and was considered as one of the favorites, but at the championships finished in a disappointing seventh place.

Litvinov later worked as a hammer throwing coach, first in Russia and later in Germany. His son Sergey Litvinov, Jr. became an international level hammer thrower. Sergey, Jr. held dual German-Russian citizenships, and at first competed for Germany, but later switched to Russia, and won a bronze at the 2014 European Championships.

Personal Best: HT – 86.04 (1986).