Reviving American Hammer Throwing

The hammer throw competition at the IAAF World Championships finished today. Today’s women’s final was highlighted by a world record performance by Anita Wlodarczyk and national record by home crowd favorite Betty Heidler. My training partner and roommate Sultana Frizell also made her first final and place tenth. While the American women had a strong showing, the Americans were once again absent from the podium. In fact, Lance Deal‘s silver medal at the 1996 Olympics was the only medal an American has won in the event at an Olympic or World Championships since 1956. I may throw for Switzerland, but I still am heavily involved in the hammer throw in America and hope the country can find success again, as has recently begun at the junior level. I hope I can help highlight some of the hurdles that need to be overcome in order for that to happen.

The table below shows America’s recent lack of success. There have been twelve major championships since 1996. Not one men and only eight women (one subsequently banned for a doping offense) have made the finals. As I start my fall training, I plan to make a few more posts about why I think this has been the case and also highlight what has been and can be done to improve the situation. I’ve recently discussed how an under appreciation of specific strength contributes to this problem. In the past, I’ve also outlined why I feel the weight throw is also a culprit. I hope to elaborate on other issues such as lack of youth throwers and throwing opportunities, technical deficiencies, lack of high level coaching, etc. Keep checking back for in September and October for more.