Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw

The men's hammer throw at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 30 competitors from 16 nations, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Monday September 26, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. In the final round the eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.[1] The event was won by Sergey Litvinov of the Soviet Union, the nation's sixth victory in the event (second-most all-time behind the United States' seven). The Soviet team completed the medal sweep, with Yuriy Sedykh taking silver and Jüri Tamm bronze. It was the Soviets' third medal sweep in four Games, with only the boycotted 1984 Games missing. The 1988 team was the same as the 1980 squad, with Litvinov and Sedykh trading places. Litvinov and Tamm were the ninth and tenth men to earn multiple medals in the hammer throw, while Sedykh (the eighth man to do so) became the fourth to win three medals; his two golds and a silver trailed only John Flanagan's three gold medals in Olympic success.

Men's hammer throw
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Athletics pictogram
VenuesOlympic Stadium
DatesSeptember 25, 1988 (1988-09-25) (qualifying)
September 26, 1988 (1988-09-26) (final)
Competitors30 from 16 nations
Winning distance84.80 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sergey Litvinov
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jüri Tamm
 Soviet Union
← 1984
1992 →

Background

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This was the 20th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Four of the 12 finalists from the 1984 Games returned: gold medalist Juha Tiainen and sixth-place finisher Harri Huhtala of Finland, and Christoph Sahner of West Germany and Matthew Mileham of Great Britain, both of whom had failed to make a legal mark in the final. Also returning were Soviets Yuriy Sedykh, Sergey Litvinov, and Jüri Tamm, who had swept the medals (in that order) in 1980 but had been kept out of the 1984 Games due to the Soviet-led boycott. Sedykh had also won gold in 1976. He and Litvinov had dominated the event since that year, with Sedykh winning two Olympic gold medals and Litvinov winning both World Championships to date (1983 and 1987). Sedykh's world record of 86.74 metres, set in 1986, still stands as of 2021. Tamm was also a serious contender; in addition to the 1980 bronze, he had finished second at the 1987 World Championship.[2]

No nations made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 19th time, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 77.00 metres advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top eight competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[2][3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 86.74 Stuttgart, West Germany 30 August 1986
Olympic record   Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 81.80 Moscow, Soviet Union 31 July 1980

Sergey Litvinov broke the Olympic record with his first throw in the final, of 84.76 metres, and improved on that with his fifth throw, of 84.80 metres. All six of Litvinov's throws in the final surpassed the old record, as did four of Sedykh's five legal marks.

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 25 September 1988 9:00 Qualifying
Monday, 26 September 1988 12:40 Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Sergey Litvinov   Soviet Union 81.24 81.24 Q
2 Jüri Tamm   Soviet Union 79.68 79.68 Q
3 Yuriy Sedykh   Soviet Union 78.48 78.48 Q
4 Ralf Haber   East Germany 75.64 78.16 78.16 Q
5 Günther Rodehau   East Germany X 78.12 78.12 Q
6 Harri Huhtala   Finland 75.98 77.34 77.34 Q
7 Heinz Weis   West Germany 76.40 76.70 77.24 77.24 Q
8 Tibor Gécsek   Hungary X 77.12 77.12 Q
9 Ivan Tanev   Bulgaria 76.84 X X 76.84 q
10 Johann Lindner   Austria 76.60 74.54 X 76.60 q
11 Tore Gustafsson   Sweden 72.90 73.14 76.44 76.44 q
12 Imre Szitás   Hungary 74.98 76.24 73.82 76.24 q
13 Christoph Sahner   West Germany 75.84 72.42 72.46 75.84
14 Plamen Minev   Bulgaria 74.46 70.22 X 74.46
15 József Vida   Hungary 70.60 74.30 72.50 74.30
16 Juha Tiainen   Finland 72.44 73.74 X 73.74
17 Lance Deal   United States X 71.72 73.66 73.66
18 Kenneth Flax   United States X 72.70 72.24 72.70
19 Jud Logan   United States 69.46 72.46 72.64 72.64
20 Viktor Apostolov   Bulgaria X X 71.10 71.10
21 Lucio Serrani   Italy 70.50 X 70.00 70.50
22 Michael Jones   Great Britain 70.38 X 68.94 70.38
23 Dave Smith   Great Britain X X 69.12 69.12
24 Connor McCullagh   Ireland X X 68.66 68.66
25 Andrés Charadia   Argentina 66.86 66.02 68.26 68.26
26 Hakim Toumi   Algeria 65.78 65.72 X 65.78
27 Waleed Al-Bekheet   Kuwait 62.78 60.14 63.86 63.86
28 Matthew Mileham   Great Britain 59.94 62.42 X 62.42
29 Lee Ju-hyeong   South Korea X X 55.98 55.98
Kjell Bystedt   Sweden X X X NM

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Sergey Litvinov   Soviet Union 84.76 OR 83.82 83.86 83.98 84.80 OR 83.80 84.80 OR
  Yuriy Sedykh   Soviet Union 80.96 83.62 83.44 83.44 X 83.76 83.76
  Jüri Tamm   Soviet Union 80.94 81.16 X X X X 81.16
4 Ralf Haber   East Germany 78.92 78.72 79.18 X 78.88 80.44 80.44
5 Heinz Weis   West Germany 78.50 76.80 X 77.70 78.98 79.16 79.16
6 Tibor Gécsek   Hungary 78.18 76.52 74.36 77.82 X 78.36 78.36
7 Imre Szitás   Hungary 76.00 76.40 76.20 75.66 76.10 77.04 77.04
8 Ivan Tanev   Bulgaria 75.56 75.76 X 75.28 75.54 76.08 76.08
9 Harri Huhtala   Finland 75.26 75.38 75.08 Did not advance 75.38
10 Johann Lindner   Austria 75.36 75.14 75.28 Did not advance 75.36
11 Tore Gustafsson   Sweden 74.24 73.32 X Did not advance 74.24
12 Günther Rodehau   East Germany X X 72.36 Did not advance 72.36

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 245.
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