The men's

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

competition at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

took place on October 16–17. There were 22 competitors from 12 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

Gyula Zsivótzky Gyula Zsivótzky (25 February 1937 – 29 September 2007) was a Hungarian hammer thrower. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics, silvers in 1960 and 1964, and finished fifth in 1972. Zsivótzky set two world record: one in 1965 and the othe ...

of Hungary, who had taken silver in both 1960 and 1964; he was the third man to win three medals in the hammer throw (after John Flanagan and

Matt McGrath Matthew John McGrath (December 28, 1875 – January 29, 1941) was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, the New York Athletic Club, and the New York City Police Department. At the time of his death at age 64, he attained the rank of Pol ...

. Zsivótzky defeated defending champion Romuald Klim of the Soviet Union, who earned silver this time to become the sixth man to win multiple medals in the event. Bronze went to

Lázár Lovász Lázár Lovász (24 May 1942 – 17 April 2023) was a Hungarian athlete who competed in hammer throw, who competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Biography Lovász won the British AAA Championships title in the hammer throw event at the 1968 ...

of Hungary. The winning margin was 8 cm which as of 2023 remains the only time the men's hammer throw was won by less than 10 cm at the Olympics.

Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Eight of the 15 finalists from the 1964 Games returned: gold medalist Romuald Klim of the Soviet Union, two-time silver medalist

of Hungary, bronze medalist

Uwe Beyer Uwe Beyer (14 April 1945 – 15 April 1993) was a West German hammer thrower. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won the bronze medal in 1964, representing the United Team of Germany, and later finished fourth in 1972 represent ...

of the United Team of Germany (now competing for West Germany), sixth-place finisher (and 1956 gold medalist and 1960 finalist)

Hal Connolly Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly (August 1, 1931 – August 18, 2010) was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Connolly became the f ...

of the United States, seventh-place finisher Ed Burke of the United States, eleventh-place finisher Sándor Eckschmiedt of Hungary, twelfth-place finisher (and 1956 and 1960 finalist)

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...

of the United States, and thirteenth-place finisher

Takeo Sugawara is a Japanese former hammer thrower who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics, in the 1964 Summer Olympics, in the 1968 Summer Olympics, and in the 1972 Summer Olympics. Sugawara won the British AAA Championships title at the 1963 AAA Champion ...

of Japan. Klim and Zsivótzky had been favored in 1964; they were favored again in 1968. Zsivótzky had the best throw of the pair, a world record 73.76 metres, but Klim had won nine straight head-to-head matchups between the two. El Salvador and Nicaragua each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany both competed separately for the first time. The United States appeared for the 15th time, the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance of 66.00 metres progressed to the final. If fewer than twelve athletes achieved this mark, then the twelve furthest throwing athletes would reach the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. For the second straight Games,

led the qualifying round with an Olympic record throw, this time of 72.60 metres. In the final, Romuald Klim beat that record with a fourth throw of 73.28 metres to take the lead. Zsivótzky was able to answer on the fifth throw with 73.36 metres to finish with the gold medal and a new Olympic record.

and

each threw 69.78 metres in the final to make four men in total surpassing the old record (but after Zsivótzky's better throw in the qualifying round, so neither ever held the record).

Schedule

All times are

Central Standard Time The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and a few Caribbean Islands, Caribbean islands. In parts of that zone (20 states in the US, three provinces or territorie ...

( UTC-6)

Results

Qualifying

Qual. rule: qualification standard 66.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q). Hall and Connolly, both finalists in each of the last three Games, each missed the qualifying mark.

Final

The tie between Lovász and Sugawara was broken by their second-best throws.

References

External links

Official Olympic Report
''la84foundation.org''. Retrieved August 14, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics - Men's hammer throw Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics Hammer throw at the Olympics Men's events at the 1968 Summer Olympics