The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track and field competitions, along with the discus throw , shot put and javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consists of a metal ball attached by a steel wire to a grip. These three components are each separate and can move independently. Both the size and weight of the ball vary between men's and women's events. The women's hammer weighs 4 kilograms 8.
While the men's hammer throw has been part of the Olympics since , the International Association of Athletics Federations did not start ratifying women's marks until Women's hammer throw was first included in the Olympics at the summer games in Sydney , Australia, after having been included in the World Championships a year earlier. The men's hammer weighs 7. The throwing motion starts with the thrower swinging the hammer back-and-forth about two times to generate momentum.
The thrower then makes three, four or rarely five full rotations using a complex heel-toe foot movement, spinning the hammer in a circular path and increasing its angular velocity with each rotation.
Rather than spinning the hammer horizontally, it is instead spun in a plane that angles up towards the direction in which it will be launched. The thrower releases the hammer as its velocity is upward and toward the target. Throws are made from a throwing circle. The thrower is not allowed to step outside the throwing circle before the hammer has landed and may only enter and exit from the rear of the throwing circle.
The hammer must land within a The sector angle was chosen because it provides a sector whose bounds are easy to measure and lay out on a field 10 metres out from the center of the ring, 6 metres across. As of [update] the men's hammer world record is held by Yuriy Sedykh , who threw The throwing distance depends on the velocity and height at which the hammer is released, but also on other factors that are not under the athlete's control.
