Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's hammer throw

The women's hammer throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 1 and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] Approximately 35 athletes competed; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking (no universality places were used in 2016).[2]

Women's hammer throw
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueJapan National Stadium
Dates1 August 2021 (qualifying)
3 August 2021 (final)
Competitors31 from 21 nations
Winning distance78.48 m
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Anita Włodarczyk  Poland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Zheng Wang  China
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Malwina Kopron  Poland
← 2016
2024 →

Summary edit

Since 2009, the dominant name in women's hammer throwing has been Anita Włodarczyk. She holds the world record and the top six throws in history. She is the defending two time Olympic Champion and the 2017 World Champion. She underwent knee surgery and took much of the 2019 and 2020 seasons off. In her absence, DeAnna Price won in 2019. Until June 26 of this year, Włodarczyk was the only woman to throw beyond 80 metres. Price became the second at the US Trials. The other two American qualifiers had moved up to the top six women in history, Brooke Andersen to #5 just in April. During the 2021 season, Włodarczyk was not showing the same form, throwing in the low 70's and losing multiple competitions. Four days after Price hit 80, Włodarczyk finally showed she still could do it, getting a 77.93m in Bydgoszcz. Other strong competitors included Włodarczyk's Polish teammates; Malwina Kopron and Joanna Fiodorow, both of whom had World Championship medals; and three time World Championship medalist Wang Zheng.

Włodarczyk made short work of qualifying, reaching her second best throw of the year, 76.99m, one and done. The only other thrower to reach automatic qualifying on their first attempt was Camryn Rogers. Wang, Andersen and Alexandra Tavernier took two attempts to reach automatic. None of the other qualifiers even made automatic. 71.68 made the top 12 and into the finals.

The finals got off to a lackluster start, Tavernier coming out of the round with the lead at 73.54m. In the second, Rogers moved up with 74.35m, then Wang took over with 75.30m. That lead lasted until Włodarczyk threw next in the ring, 76.01m was the answer. The third round eliminated two Americans, Andersen and Gwen Berry, with Price barely qualifying in eighth. Włodarczyk improved to 77.44m. The fourth round saw Włodarczyk improve again to 78.48 m (257 ft 5 in), which proved to be the winner. Kopron's fifth round 75.49m moved her into silver position. But Wang used her final effort to muscle out 77.03m to take the silver for good, leaving Kopron with the bronze. Three straight Olympic golds for Włodarczyk.[3]

Background edit

This was the 6th appearance of the event, having appeared in every Summer Olympics since 2000.

Qualification edit

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the women's hammer throw event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 72.50 metres. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 32 is reached.[2][4]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both outdoor and indoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2][5]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one female athlete regardless of time if they had no female athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the hammer throw.[2]

Competition format edit

The 2020 competition continued to use the two-round format with divided final introduced in 1936. The qualifying round gave each competitor three throws to achieve a qualifying distance (73.50 metres); if fewer than 12 women did so, the top 12 would advance. The final provided each thrower with three throws; the top eight throwers received an additional three throws for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round throws were not considered for the final).[6]

Records edit

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

World record   Anita Włodarczyk (POL) 82.98 Warsaw, Poland 28 August 2016
Olympic record   Anita Włodarczyk (POL) 82.29 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 15 August 2016
Area Distance (m) Athlete Nation
Africa (records) 75.49 Annette Echikunwoke   Nigeria
Asia (records) 77.68 Wang Zheng   China
Europe (records) 82.98 WR Anita Włodarczyk   Poland
North, Central America
and Caribbean
(records)
80.31 DeAnna Price   United States
Oceania (records) 74.61 Lauren Bruce   New Zealand
South America (records) 73.74 Jennifer Dahlgren   Argentina

Schedule edit

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The women's hammer throw took place over two separate days.[1]

Date Time Round
Sunday, 1 August 2021 9:10 Qualifying
Tuesday, 3 August 2021 19:00 Final

Results edit

Qualifying edit

Qualification rules: Qualifying performance 73.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 A Anita Włodarczyk   Poland 76.99 76.99 Q
2 B Zheng Wang   China 71.69 74.29 74.29 Q, SB
3 A Brooke Andersen   United States 71.32 74.00 74.00 Q
4 B Camryn Rogers   Canada 73.97 73.97 Q
5 A Alexandra Tavernier   France 72.34 73.51 73.51 Q
6 A Julia Ratcliffe   New Zealand 73.20 68.89 70.87 73.20 q
7 B Gwen Berry   United States 68.51 70.28 73.19 73.19 q
8 B Malwina Kopron   Poland 73.06 x x 73.06 q
9 B DeAnna Price   United States 71.03 72.55 x 72.55 q
10 B Joanna Fiodorow   Poland 72.32 x x 72.32 q
11 B Bianca Ghelber   Romania 69.78 70.80 71.72 71.72 q
12 A Sara Fantini   Italy 71.68 69.26 69.27 71.68 q
13 A Hanna Malyshchyk   Belarus 70.80 x x 70.80
14 B Silja Kosonen   Finland 69.01 69.59 70.49 70.49
15 A Na Luo   China 69.86 69.62 x 69.86
16 A Hanna Skydan   Azerbaijan 67.93 x 69.57 69.57
17 A Zalina Petrivskaya   Moldova 69.29 x 67.86 69.29
18 A Stamatia Scarvelis   Greece 68.70 69.01 x 69.01
19 A Jillian Weir   Canada 68.55 x 68.68 68.68
20 B Laura Igaune   Latvia 68.35 68.53 66.89 68.53
21 B Iryna Klymets   Ukraine 66.63 x 68.29 68.29
22 B Rosa Rodríguez   Venezuela x 67.25 68.23 68.23
23 B Lauren Bruce   New Zealand 67.71 66.01 66.15 67.71
24 B Samantha Borutta   Germany 57.00 67.38 66.47 67.38
25 B Martina Hrašnová   Slovakia 66.63 x 66.55 66.63
26 A Réka Gyurátz   Hungary x x 66.48 66.48
27 A Tuğçe Şahutoğlu   Turkey 64.23 66.06 65.66 66.06
28 B Nastassia Maslava   Belarus 60.52 x 65.15 65.15
29 A Laura Redondo Mora   Spain x x 62.42 62.42
30 A Iryna Novozhylova   Ukraine x 58.77 59.85 59.85
A Krista Tervo   Finland x x x NM

Final edit

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Anita Włodarczyk   Poland x 76.01 77.44 78.48 x 77.02 78.48 SB
  Wang Zheng   China 73.21 75.30 x 71.09 x 77.03 77.03 SB
  Malwina Kopron   Poland x 73.09 x 74.11 75.49 74.59 75.49 SB
4 Alexandra Tavernier   France 73.54 x 70.81 72.64 x 74.41 74.41 SB
5 Camryn Rogers   Canada x 74.35 x x 71.14 x 74.35
6 Bianca Ghelber   Romania 70.15 x 74.18 70.32 71.70 x 74.18 PB
7 Joanna Fiodorow   Poland x 73.09 73.46 x 73.83 x 73.83 SB
8 DeAnna Price   United States x 72.87 x 72.69 x 73.09 73.09
9 Julia Ratcliffe   New Zealand 72.61 72.69 71.79 did not advance 72.69
10 Brooke Andersen   United States 72.16 x x did not advance 72.16
11 Gwen Berry   United States 67.66 x 71.35 did not advance 71.35
12 Sara Fantini   Italy 67.55 69.10 67.91 did not advance 69.10

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ Ayala, Erica L. (3 August 2021). "Anita Wlodarczyk wins third Olympic gold in the hammer throw". Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ^ "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Athletics Explanatory Guide" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.