Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw

Men's hammer throw
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Libyan stamp commemorating 1984 Olympic athletics
VenuesLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates5 August 1984 (qualifying)
6 August 1984 (finals)
Competitors23 from 13 nations
Winning distance78.08
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Juha Tiainen
 Finland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Hans Riehm
 West Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Klaus Ploghaus
 West Germany
← 1980
1988 →
Athletics at the
1984 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
3000 mwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmenwomen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmenwomen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Heptathlonwomen
Decathlonmen
Wheelchair races

The men's hammer throw was an event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There were 23 participating athletes from 13 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals. The qualification mark was set at 72.00 metres.[1]

The event was won by Juha Tiainen of Finland, the nation's first medal in the event. It was "one of the most devalued Olympic competitions ever" due to the absence of the Soviet team, which had swept the medals the last two Games and had both Yuriy Sedykh (the two-time defending champion, two-time European champion, and world record) and Sergey Litvinov (1980 silver medalist and 1983 world champion over runner-up Sedykh) as two of the top throwers in the world.[2] It was the first time since 1948 that the Olympic record was not broken. Karl-Hans Riehm of West Germany, a contender in the event and finalist in both 1972 and 1976 before being kept out of the 1980 Games due to the American-led boycott, finally earned a medal with his silver-winning performance. His compatriot Klaus Ploghaus took bronze. They were the first two medals for West Germany as a separate nation, though Germany and the United Team of Germany had each taken medals previously.

Background[edit]

This was the 19th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Three of the 12 finalists from the 1980 Games returned: seventh-place finisher Giampaolo Urlando of Italy (the top-placed athlete from 1980 not from a boycotting nation), ninth-place finisher Harri Huhtala of Finland, and tenth-place finisher Juha Tiainen of Finland. The Soviet-led boycott kept out the best throwers in the world, with Litvinov and Sedykh absent. Riehm and Tiainen were the favorites among the depleted field.[2]

Algeria and Mauritius each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 18th time, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format[edit]

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 72.00 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[edit]

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

World record  Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 86.34 Cork, Ireland 3 July 1984
Olympic record  Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 81.80 Moscow, Soviet Union 28 July 1976

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule[edit]

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 5 August 1984 9:30 Qualifying
Monday, 6 August 1984 18:15 Final

Results[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Karl-Hans Riehm  West Germany 75.50 — — 75.50 Q
2 Klaus Ploghaus  West Germany 74.68 — — 74.68 Q
3 Orlando Bianchini  Italy 74.02 — — 74.02 Q
4 Christoph Sahner  West Germany 73.88 — — 73.88 Q
5 Harri Huhtala  Finland 73.78 — — 73.78 Q
6 Walter Ciofani  France 68.80 73.10 — 73.10 Q
7 Robert Weir  Great Britain 71.34 71.30 73.04 73.04 Q
8 Juha Tiainen  Finland 70.86 72.68 — 72.68 Q
9 Martin Girvan  Great Britain 72.66 — — 72.66 Q
10 Giampaolo Urlando  Italy 72.42 — — 72.42 Q, DPG[2]
11 Matthew Mileham  Great Britain 71.80 X X 71.80 q
12 Bill Green  United States 71.38 70.96 70.80 71.38 q
13 Johann Lindner  Austria 70.44 71.28 X 71.28
14 Jud Logan  United States 71.14 X 71.18 71.18
15 Shigenobu Murofushi  Japan 70.92 70.24 70.74 70.92
16 Lucio Serrani  Italy 69.72 70.64 69.64 70.64
17 Declan Hegarty  Ireland X 70.56 X 70.56
18 Hakim Toumi  Algeria 67.68 X 65.84 67.68
19 Ed Burke  United States X 67.52 X 67.52
20 Raúl Jimeno  Spain 66.38 65.92 65.86 66.38
21 Tore Johnsen  Norway 65.16 63.24 65.72 65.72
22 Conor McCullough  Ireland 62.12 65.56 65.12 65.56
— Dominique Bechard  Mauritius X X X NM

Final[edit]

Giampaolo Urlando finished fourth at 75.96 metres but the Italian athlete was subsequently disqualified as his doping tests proved positive.[2]

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance
1st place, gold medalist(s) Juha Tiainen  Finland 70.56 72.64 78.08 74.54 75.26 75.82 78.08
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Hans Riehm  West Germany 73.68 74.70 77.98 X 76.46 X 77.98
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Klaus Ploghaus  West Germany 75.48 75.96 72.16 75.18 X 76.68 76.68
4 Orlando Bianchini  Italy 72.18 72.12 74.40 73.42 75.94 73.78 75.94
5 Bill Green  United States X 72.68 74.76 67.70 75.60 72.12 75.60
6 Harri Huhtala  Finland 74.34 74.44 73.86 74.72 73.10 75.28 75.28
7 Walter Ciofani  France X 71.86 73.46 X 71.20 68.86 73.46
8 Robert Weir  Great Britain 71.16 X 72.62 72.62
9 Martin Girvan  Great Britain X 72.32 68.00 72.32
— Christoph Sahner  West Germany X X X Did not advance NM
Matthew Mileham  Great Britain X X X Did not advance NM
— Giampaolo Urlando  Italy 70.26 74.82 X 73.14 75.96 75.64 75.96 DPG[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 288.

External links[edit]

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