Poland's Nowicki takes hammer throw gold in Tokyo, Korir extends Kenya's 800m dominance

Gold medallist Wojciech Nowicki, who finished third at Rio 2016, was dominant from the start with an 81.18m opener, clearing more than 80 metres on his first five throws.

Published : Aug 04, 2021 19:26 IST

Wojciech Nowicki of Poland celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's Hammer Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Wojciech Nowicki of Poland celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's Hammer Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
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Wojciech Nowicki of Poland celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's Hammer Throw final at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.

Poland's Wojciech Nowicki won the men's hammer throw with a personal best of 82.52 metres on Wednesday, while his compatriot Pawel Fajdek avoided another Olympic disappointment by picking up the bronze.

Nowicki, who finished third at the 2016 Games and has three world bronze medals, was dominant from the start with an 81.18m opener, clearing more than 80 metres on his first five rounds in a show of remarkable consistency. Norway's Eivind Henriksen produced a national record 81.58m for silver.

With the year's best throw of 82.98 metres and the last four World Championships titles, Fajdek had seemed an obvious frontrunner in Tokyo.

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But his two previous Olympics were memorable for all the wrong reasons, as he failed to make it past qualifying in London after fouling his first three throws and had a best throw of 72 metres in Rio. After four underwhelming attempts on Wednesday, he produced enough power for the podium with 81.53m.

The results added to Poland's medal run, after Anita Wlodarczyk won a historic third straight Olympic gold in the women's hammer on Tuesday and Malwina Kopron took the bronze. Poland also won the inaugural 4x400 mixed relay on Saturday.

Rudy Winkler had hoped to earn the United States its first hammer throw Olympic medal since 1996 after winning the U.S. trials in a national record of 82.71m in June -- the second best throw produced in 2021 -- but came up short in the final, finishing seventh with 77.08m.

- Emmanuel Korir, Ferguson Rotich complete Kenya one-two in 800m -

Kenya's Emmanuel Korir won the men's 800 metres gold at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, extending the East African nation's dominance in an event which it has now won four times in a row.

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Emmanuel Korir of Kenya celebrates winning gold as he crosses the finish line in the men's 800m final ahead of countryman Ferguson Rotich in Tokyo.
 

His compatriot Ferguson Rotich took silver while Patryk Dobek of Poland won bronze.

Kenya's double Olympic gold medallist David Rudisha's persistent injuries denied him the chance to defend his title, opening the way for a new champion to emerge.

Korir powered his way to victory with a timing of 1:45.06s.

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