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
Sergey Litvinov
 Soviet Union
Yuriy Sedykh
 Soviet Union
Jüri Tamm
 Soviet Union

Background

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

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

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

World record Yuriy Sedykh (URS)86.74Stuttgart, West Germany30 August 1986
Olympic record Yuriy Sedykh (URS)81.80Moscow, Soviet Union28 July 1976

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

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

Date Time Round
Sunday, 25 September 19889:00Qualifying
Monday, 26 September 198812:40Final

Results

Qualifying

RankAthleteNation123DistanceNotes
1Sergey Litvinov Soviet Union81.2481.24Q
2Jüri Tamm Soviet Union79.6879.68Q
3Yuriy Sedykh Soviet Union78.4878.48Q
4Ralf Haber East Germany75.6478.1678.16Q
5Günther Rodehau East GermanyX78.1278.12Q
6Harri Huhtala Finland75.9877.3477.34Q
7Heinz Weis West Germany76.4076.7077.2477.24Q
8Tibor Gécsek HungaryX77.1277.12Q
9Ivan Tanev Bulgaria76.84XX76.84q
10Johann Lindner Austria76.6074.54X76.60q
11Tore Gustafsson Sweden72.9073.1476.4476.44q
12Imre Szitás Hungary74.9876.2473.8276.24q
13Christoph Sahner West Germany75.8472.4272.4675.84
14Plamen Minev Bulgaria74.4670.22X74.46
15József Vida Hungary70.6074.3072.5074.30
16Juha Tiainen Finland72.4473.74X73.74
17Lance Deal United StatesX71.7273.6673.66
18Kenneth Flax United StatesX72.7072.2472.70
19Jud Logan United States69.4672.4672.6472.64
20Viktor Apostolov BulgariaXX71.1071.10
21Lucio Serrani Italy70.50X70.0070.50
22Michael Jones Great Britain70.38X68.9470.38
23Dave Smith Great BritainXX69.1269.12
24Connor McCullagh IrelandXX68.6668.66
25Andrés Charadia Argentina66.8666.0268.2668.26
26Hakim Toumi Algeria65.7865.72X65.78
27Waleed Al-Bekheet Kuwait62.7860.1463.8663.86
28Matthew Mileham Great Britain59.9462.42X62.42
29Lee Ju-hyeong South KoreaXX55.9855.98
Kjell Bystedt SwedenXXXNM

Final

RankAthleteNation123456DistanceNotes
Sergey Litvinov Soviet Union 84.76 OR 83.82 83.86 83.98 84.80 OR 83.80 84.80OR
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
4Ralf Haber East Germany 78.92 78.72 79.18 X 78.88 80.44 80.44
5Heinz Weis West Germany 78.50 76.80 X 77.70 78.98 79.16 79.16
6Tibor Gécsek Hungary 78.18 76.52 74.36 77.82 X 78.36 78.36
7Imre Szitás Hungary 76.00 76.40 76.20 75.66 76.10 77.04 77.04
8Ivan Tanev Bulgaria 75.56 75.76 X 75.28 75.54 76.08 76.08
9Harri Huhtala Finland 75.26 75.38 75.08Did not advance75.38
10Johann Lindner Austria 75.36 75.14 75.28Did not advance75.36
11Tore Gustafsson Sweden 74.24 73.32 XDid not advance74.24
12Günther Rodehau East Germany X X 72.36Did not advance72.36

See also

References

  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. "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. Official Report, vol. 2, p. 245.
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