Hammer Throw, Men

Poland’s Paweł Fajdek had won the last four World Championships and was considered the favorite, although he had struggled at Rio in 2016, failing to qualify for the final. American Rudy Winkler had the longest throw of the year with 82.71 and was expected to battle for medals, along with another Pole, Wojciech Nowicki, who had been third at Rio in 2016 and at the last three World Championships.

Nowicki opened the final with 81.18 and he would lead the competition throughout. In round two he improved that to 81.72, a mark that would hold up for the gold medal, although he recorded 82.52 in round three, his best mark of the competition.

Behind Nowicki, Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan threw 80.39 in round two to move into second place. He would hold that position until round five when Fajdek threw 81.53 and Norway’s Eivind Henriksen recorded 81.58, a mark that would bring him the silver medal as only Britain’s Nick Miller would improve in round six, finishing sixth. Winkler never contended, his best throw of 77.08 coming in round one as he finished seventh. Fajdek took bronze and Kokhan was just off the podium in fourth.