The hammer throw is notable as a sport since it doesn't use a hammer, nor do you throw it. Today's hammer throw event uses a ball (metal sphere) and chain for equipment. The chain has a handle on the end and athletes spin before they release the hammer just as they do with the discus.

Here are some statistics on the hammer throw:

• The hammer is a little over a meter in length.
• Women throw a 4kg hammer, while men throw a 7kg hammer.
• The women's metal sphere is 9.5cm to 11cm in diameter.
• The men's metal sphere is 11cm to 13cm in diameter.

 

You spin around a platform 2 meters in diameter and have to get your hammer within a boundary that starts at 32 degrees and goes to 92 degrees. It looks like a inverted triangle. You get three chances and your best throw counts as your final score.

Curiously, the hammer throw didn't have a women's event until 1995. From 1900 the hammer throw was the land of men, but in 2000 it became a women's event at the Olympics.

The record women's hammer throw was set today by Tatiana Lysenko of Russia who threw it 77.41 meters. The old record had just been set less than two weeks earlier by Gulfiya Khanafeyeva who threw it 77.26 meters. Contrast these records to the men's record that stands at 86.74, which was set in 1986 by Ukranian Yuriy Sedykh.