Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw

The men's hammer throw event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had an entry list of 17 competitors from 13 nations, with one qualifying group before the final (12) took place on 31 July 1980. Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 72.00 metres advanced to the final.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Yuriy Sedykh of the Soviet Union, repeating as Olympic champion. He was the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event and third to have at least two gold medals (John Flanagan had three). Just as in 1976, Sedykh led the Soviet team to a medal sweep, with Sergey Litvinov taking silver and Jüri Tamm bronze. The gold medal was the Soviet Union's third consecutive and fifth overall in the men's hammer throw, second all-time to the United States's seven.

Men's hammer throw
at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1980 Olympic hammer throw
VenueLuzhniki Stadium
Dates30 & 31 July
Competitors17 from 13 nations
Winning distance81.80 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Sergey Litvinov
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jüri Tamm
 Soviet Union
← 1976
1984 →

Background

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This was the 18th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Three of the 12 finalists from the 1976 Games returned: gold medalist Yuriy Sedykh of the Soviet Union, seventh-place finisher Chris Black of Great Britain, and twelfth-place finisher Peter Farmer of Australia. Sedykh was a heavy favorite to repeat. His teammates, Sergey Litvinov and Jüri Tamm, were his biggest challengers. The most significant absence due to the American-led boycott was Karl-Hans Riehm of West Germany, who had been undefeated in 1979.[2]

Cuba and Kuwait each made their debut in the event. Great Britain appeared for the 15th time, most of any nation competing but behind the United States' 17 appearances (missing the event for the first time due to the boycott).

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 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

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

World record   Sergey Litvinov (URS) 81.66 Sochi, Soviet Union 24 May 1980
Olympic record   Yuriy Sedykh (URS) 77.52 Montreal, Canada 28 July 1976

Yuriy Sedykh broke his own Olympic record in the qualifying round, throwing the hammer 78.22 metres. In the very first throw of the final (Sedykh was the first athlete to throw), he broke the world record with 81.80 metres; this throw was not beaten during the competition. The top four athletes finished with better results than the old Olympic record.

Schedule

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All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 30 July 1980 11:30 Qualifying
Thursday, 31 July 1980 17:00 Final

Results

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Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 Yury Sedykh   Soviet Union 78.22 OR 78.22 Q, OR
2 Jüri Tamm   Soviet Union 76.24 76.24 Q
3 Sergey Litvinov   Soviet Union X 75.24 75.24 Q
4 Detlef Gerstenberg   East Germany 75.04 75.04 Q
5 Roland Steuk   East Germany X 73.52 73.52 Q
6 Harri Huhtala   Finland 71.42 72.46 72.46 Q
7 Armando Orozco   Cuba X X 72.28 72.28 Q
8 Giampaolo Urlando   Italy 68.40 72.20 72.20 Q
9 Ireneusz Golda   Poland X 69.98 70.88 70.88 q
10 Juha Tiainen   Finland 70.64 70.46 70.82 70.82 q
11 Emanuil Dyulgerov   Bulgaria X 69.24 70.60 70.60 q
12 Jiří Chamrád   Czechoslovakia X 67.44 69.38 69.38 q
13 Peter Farmer   Australia 68.52 69.16 X 69.16
14 Chris Black   Great Britain 66.02 66.74 X 66.74
15 Paul Dickenson   Great Britain X 64.22 63.90 64.22
16 Seán Egan   Ireland 63.34 63.94 X 63.94
17 Khaled Ghaloum   Kuwait X 47.40 47.00 47.40

Final

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Nine athletes received additional throws (rather than eight) because of a tie at 8th place through the first three throws.

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
  Yuriy Sedykh   Soviet Union 81.80 WR 81.46 79.68 X 80.98 80.70 81.80 WR
  Sergey Litvinov   Soviet Union 80.64 X X X X X 80.64
  Jüri Tamm   Soviet Union 77.84 78.96 77.92 77.26 X 76.86 78.96
4 Roland Steuk   East Germany 74.34 76.00 75.58 77.26 77.54 X 77.54
5 Detlef Gerstenberg   East Germany 73.64 74.60 73.98 X X 73.40 74.60
6 Emanuil Dyulgerov   Bulgaria 70.14 71.34 71.82 71.34 74.04 X 74.04
7 Giampaolo Urlando   Italy 73.60 73.90 73.18 73.30 X X 73.90
8 Ireneusz Golda   Poland 72.38 73.74 X X X X 73.74
9 Harri Huhtala   Finland 69.78 X 71.82 71.96 71.82 71.02 71.96
10 Juha Tiainen   Finland X 71.38 71.08 Did not advance 71.38
11 Armando Orozco   Cuba X 67.76 68.68 Did not advance 68.68
12 Jiří Chamrád   Czechoslovakia 68.16 65.94 66.58 Did not advance 68.16

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 67.
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