YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN long odds on Canada’s Ethan Katzberg taking the hammer world title before the Championships began.
Yes, the 21-year-old from Nanaimo, British Columbia, had made three improvements to the Canadian NR this year and arrived in Budapest with a best of 258-3 (78.73).
But no one expected him to usurp the legion of top-flight European throwers as well as USA titlist Rudy Winkler, who had also thrown over 80m this year; Katz rated No. 6 on our pre-meet formchart.
However, Katzberg’s leading the HT qualifiers on Saturday with a massive 266-4 (81.18) NR to progress as the only automatic qualifier — an 8-foot improvement — gave an indication that suddenly he was a thrower to be reckoned with.
As far as Katzberg was concerned, and his chances of getting among the medals, the wire had literally and metaphorically moved.
In the final, local star and ’19 WC bronze medalist Bence Halász took an early lead with a 265-2 (80.82), the second-best throw of his career, to send the home crowd into raptures although he was subsequently unable to improve further during the rest of the competition and finished with the bronze.
Katzberg, throwing last in the first three rounds, started off promisingly with 263-1 (80.18) to finish the first stanza in second place. In the second round, ’20 OG gold medalist and ’22 WC 2nd-placer Wojciech Nowicki reached 264-9 (80.70) to also enter medal consideration.
The Pole then improved to 265-2 (80.83) in the fourth round to move into 1st by a centimeter. However, with his penultimate throw Katzberg improved his NR to 266-7 (81.25) and while Nowicki responded immediately with 265-10 (81.02) it was not enough.
Both Katzberg and Nowicki also threw over 80m with their final efforts to keep the tension high until the last but the Canadian prevailed to take his country’s first-ever WC throwing gold.
“This is my first World Championships, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. Budapest did a very good job preparing these championships, it is a very beautiful stadium. I am sure Bence is very excited for winning his medal, he did a very good job in front of his home crowd,” said Katzberg, almost forgetting that his nearest rival was Nowicki such was the noisy good-natured support Halász was getting from the stands throughout the competition.
“I felt a little nervous coming in but with the first throw, I gained some confidence, and I was very satisfied with how I was progressing during the competition,” Katzberg added. “I did not want to get too excited, so I tried to keep myself calm. To throw a PB and become a world champion, that is absolutely a great feeling. I was able to find my rhythm at this competition just like I did in qualification.”
The tall (6-6/1.98) Katzberg is coached by 2-time WC shot medallist Dylan Armstrong, whom he rushed to embrace immediately after the competition.
Daniel Haugh ended up as the leading American, finishing 6th with 258-0 (78.64) while Winkler once again struggled to find his best form in a major international competition and placed a disappointing 8th with 249-6 (76.04).
Poland’s Paweł Fajdek, champion at the last 5 WCs, was finally dethroned and even missed out on a medal of any hue as he had to settle for 4th with 262-5 (80.00).
The qualifying round saw ’22 WC finalist Alex Young depart with a best mark of 226-8 (69.10), more than 20ft down on his season’s best of 248-11 (75.87) set when he finished 3rd at USAs last month.
MEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
FINAL (August 20)
1. Ethan Katzberg (Can) 266-7 (81.25) NR
(263-1, 262-6, f, 261-10, 266-7, 266-1) (80.18, 80.02, f, 79.82, 81.25, 81.11);
2. Wojciech Nowicki (Pol) 265-10 (81.02)
(259-8, 264-9, 259-0, 265-2, 265-10, 263-8) (79.14, 80.70, 78.94, 80.83, 81.02, 80.36);
3. Bence Halász (Hun) 265-2 (80.82)
(265-2, f, f, 264-5, 262-3, f) (80.82, f, f, 80.59, 79.94, f);
4. Paweł Fajdek (Pol) 262-5 (80.00)
(262-5, f, 252-10, f, f, 255-10) (80.00, f, 77.06, f, f, 77.99);
5. Mykhaylo Kokhan (Ukr) 261-1 (79.59)
(f, 253-11, 260-4, 257-1, 261-1, 260-11) (f, 77.41, 79.34, 78.37, 79.59, 79.52);
6. Daniel Haugh (US) 258-0 (78.64)
(249-7, 253-10, 248-3, 258-0, 245-6, f) (76.07, 77.38, 75.66, 78.64, 74.83, f);
7. Eivind Prestegård Henriksen (Nor) 252-10 (77.06)
(248-10, 252-10, f, f, 252-0, f) (75.85, 77.06, f, f, 76.81, f);
8. Rudy Winkler (US) 249-6 (76.04)
(f, f, 249-6, f, 248-9, f) (f, f, 76.04, f, 75.83, f);
9. Gabriel Kehr (Chl) 249-3 (75.99)
(249-3, 247-10, 243-7) (75.99, 75.54, 74.24);
10. Mihaíl Anastasákis (Gre) 247-8 (75.49)
(244-10, 239-7, 247-8) (74.62, 73.04, 75.49);
11. Adam Keenan (Can) 244-4 (74.49)
(244-4, 242-8, 238-1) (74.49, 73.96, 72.58);
12. Diego Del Real (Mex) 238-1 (72.56)
(237-6, 235-8, 238-1) (72.39, 71.84, 72.56).
| xx | |||
| * = progression of the leading throw; ¶ = athlete’s best of the day | |||
| first 3 rounds | |||
| Fajdek | 80.00*¶ | f | 77.06 |
| Kehr | 75.99¶ | 75.54 | 74.24 |
| Keenan | 74.49¶ | 73.96 | 72.58 |
| Winkler | f | f | 76.04¶ |
| Halász | 80.82*¶ | f | f |
| Nowicki | 79.14 | 80.70 | 78.94 |
| Haugh | 76.07 | 77.38 | 75.66 |
| Anastasákis | 74.62 | 73.04 | 75.49¶ |
| Henriksen | 75.85 | 77.06¶ | f |
| Kokhan | f | 77.41 | 79.34 |
| Del Real | 72.39 | 71.84 | 72.56¶ |
| Katzberg | 80.18 | 80.02 | f |
| rounds 4 & 5 | |||
| Winkler | f | 75.83 | |
| Henriksen | f | 76.81 | |
| Haugh | 78.64¶ | 74.83 | |
| Kokhan | 78.37 | 79.59¶ | |
| Fajdek | f | f | |
| Katzberg | 79.82 | 81.25* ¶ | |
| Nowicki | 80.83* | 81.02¶ | |
| Halász | 80.59 | 79.94 | |
| last round | |||
| Winkler | f | ||
| Henriksen | f | ||
| Haugh | f | ||
| Kokhan | 79.52 | ||
| Fajdek | 77.99 | ||
| Katzberg | 81.11 | ||
| Halász | f | ||
| Nowicki | 80.36 | ||
QUALIFYING (August 19; auto-qualifier 252-7/77.00)
Qualifiers: Katzberg 266-4 (81.18) NR, Kokhan 257-5 (78.47), Halász 256-4 (78.13), Nowicki 256-0 (78.04), Fajdek 255-10 (77.98), Winkler (252-10 (77.06), Haugh 251-5 (76.64), Anastasákis 248-7 (75.76), Henriksen 247-3 (75.37), Kehr 246-5 (75.10), Del Real 245-9 (74.91), Keenan 244-7 (74.56);
Non-Qualifiers: Rowan Hamilton (Can) 243-3 (74.14), Hrístos Frantzeskákis (Gre) 242-11 (74.05), Dániel Rába (Hun) 240-0 (73.17), Thomas Mardal (Nor) 239-11 (73.13), Aaron Kangas (Fin) 239-4 (72.96), Serghei Marghiev (Mol) 239-2 (72.91), Jerome Vega (PR) 239-1 (72.87), Humberto Mansilla (Chl) 238-10 (72.80), Joaquín Gómez (Arg) 238-9 (72.77), Sören Klose (Ger) 236-11 (72.23), Yann Chaussinand (Fra) 236-9 (72.17), Ragnar Carlsson (Swe) 236-3 (72.02), Donát Varga (Hun) 236-3 (72.02), Ronald A. Mencia (Cub) 235-4 (71.72), Alexandros Poursanidis (Cyp) 235-0 (71.63), Mostafa Hicham Al-Gamal (Egy) 234-1 (71.36), Denzel Comenentia (Neth) 230-2 (70.16), Konstadínos Záltos (Gre) 229-7 (69.98), Alex Young (US) 226-8 (69.10), Patrik Hájek (CzR) 225-7 (68.77), Marcin Wrotyński (Pol) 225-2 (68.65);… 3f—Merlin Hummel (Ger), Hilmar Örn Jónsson (Ice).