IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG before it was clear that the condensed field event formats at the World Ultimate Championship would reward those on their game from the get-go and wouldn’t necessarily need those fifth and sixth attempts to reach top form. For the men’s hammer field, a wet competition area from intermittent drizzle on a cool, damp night did not help, either.
Unbeaten global leader Ethan Katzberg, the 2-time World champ (including here at Budapest 23) and ’24 Olympic gold medalist, was unfortunately not on the ball early. He sailed his initial throw outside the left sector line and his subsequent effort into the cage, as he slipped and released the implement on his second turn. With the field cut from 8 to 6 after two rounds, the Canadian was gone.
“I always love competing here in Budapest and again the atmosphere was amazing,” he said later. “But I’m taking some tough lessons today and I definitely could have done a few things differently.”
Host nation favorite Bence Halász — the world leader and newly minted European champ and Hungarian record-holder — did, however, get off a decent first effort, reaching 263-5 (80.30). But he was quickly surpassed by German Merlin Hummel, who was one step down on the podium in Birmingham. He had just about everything going right on his initial missive, sending it down the middle on a near-season’s best 267-3 (81.46).
When Katzberg struck out in round 2, and with 83-meter threats like Poland’s Paweł Fajdek and American Rudy Winkler far off their best, it was apparent that no one else was going to threaten the first two. Unfortunately, for Halász, he could not reach 80m again and declined measurements on his final throws.
Hummel fouled on his second, falling as his feet became tangled, but then landed another good one, 267-2 (81.44), on his third to wrap up the victory.
The German’s previous ’26 best had come right here 2 months earlier, where he beat Halász, but lost to Katzberg. The 24-year-old Hummel’s lifetime PR came a year ago when he claimed silver behind the Canadian in Tokyo, but here back at the ’23 Worlds, he didn’t get a fair throw.
“Just 2 years ago I was [only] in the top 8 in the world, so then I was overwhelmed with the silver medal at the World Championships last year,” he said. “I am used to being in the top 3, but being the first and to win the Ultimate title feels very special. I still cannot describe how I feel. All of the athletes had problems with the wet in the circle, so we had to adapt to it. I fell once and destroyed some cameras, so I just had to adapt to the competition and stay relaxed.”
Winkler placed 7th off an opening 248-11 (75.86) and then a foul. Asked about the apparently problematic ring, he told T&FN correspondent Dan McQuaid, “The black fabric they covered the track with was saturated wet, so it was impossible to dry the circle or clean our shoes properly. And paint from the grass was being tracked into the circle which was accumulating and making the ring slicker as the competition progressed.”
UC MEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
September 11
1. Merlin Hummel (Ger) 267-3 (81.46)
(267-3, f, 267-2, f) (81.46, f, 81.44, f)
2. Bence Halász (Hun) 263-5 (80.30)
(263-5, f, f, f) (80.30, f, f, f)
3. Mykhaylo Kokhan (Ukr) 258-10 (78.90)
(240-1, 257-6, 258-10, 254-7) (73.18, 78.50, 78.90, 77.60)
4. Yann Chaussinand (Fra) 257-1 (78.36)
(257-1, f, f, f) (78.36, f, f, f)
5. Volodymyr Myslyvčuk (CzR) 256-6 (78.19)
(239-11, 256-6, 253-7) (73.12, 78.19, 77.30)
6. Paweł Fajdek (Pol) 249-8 (76.11)
7. Rudy Winkler (US) 248-11 (75.86)
… 2f—Ethan Katzberg (Can).
