Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw

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Men's hammer throw
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Hal Connolly memorial
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
DatesNovember 24
Competitors22 from 14 nations
Winning distance63.19 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hal Connolly
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mikhail Krivonosov
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Anatoli Samotsvetov
 Soviet Union
← 1952
1960 →
Athletics at the
1956 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
80 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Decathlonmen
Video on YouTube Official Video @1:09:20

The men's hammer throw was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The qualifying round and the final both were held on Saturday November 24, 1956.[1] There were 22 competitors from 14 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by American Hal Connolly, the nation's first victory in the event since 1924 and seventh overall. Mikhail Krivonosov (silver) and Anatoli Samotsvetov (bronze) earned the Soviet Union's first medals in the event.

Background[edit]

This was the 12th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Four of the 25 finalists from the 1952 Games returned: gold medalist József Csermák of Hungary, seventh-place finisher Sverre Strandli of Norway, twenty-first-place finisher Peter Allday of Great Britain, and Mikhail Krivonosov of the Soviet Union, who had failed to set a legal mark in the final. Krivonosov had become one of the best hammer throwers in the world between the Games, winning the European championship and breaking the world record seven times. Krivonosov held the world record for almost two years, improving it almost 3 metres in the process. Earlier in the month, Hal Connolly had taken the world record, adding over a metre to the mark Mikhail Krivonosov had thrown just 11 days earlier.[2]

Australia and Poland each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 12th time, the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point.

Summary[edit]

The leader in qualifying was Anatoli Samotsvetov. Samotsvetov took the lead with an Olympic record 62.10 metres in the first round; the three Soviets holding the medal positions. In the second round, Krivonosov improved the Olympic record to 63.00 metres. American Al Hall moved into third place with 61.83 metres to break up the Soviet bloc. In the third round, Krivonosov upped the record 3 more centimetres and Connolly moved into second with a 62.65 metres. In the fifth round, Connolly became the third person of the day to break the Olympic record, throwing the winner 63.19 m (207 ft 3 in). Samotsvetov made a final throw of 62.56 metres to secure his hold on bronze, but Krivonosov's only answers were fouls, leaving him with the silver.

In a much publicized Olympic romance, Connolly would marry Czechoslovak discus throw champion, Olga Fikotová.

Competition format[edit]

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1936, with the qualifying round completely separate from the divided final. In qualifying, each athlete received three attempts; those recording a mark of at least 54.00 metres advanced to the final (a significant increase from the 49.00 metres used in 1952, which resulted in 25 finalists). If fewer than 12 athletes achieved that distance, the top 12 would advance. The results of the qualifying round were then ignored. Finalists received three throws each, with the top six competitors receiving an additional three attempts. The best distance among those six throws counted.[2][3]

Records[edit]

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Hal Connolly (USA) 68.54 Los Angeles, United States 2 November 1956
Olympic record  József Csermák (HUN) 60.34 Helsinki, Finland 24 July 1952

Anatoli Samotsvetov was the first thrower in the final; he immediately broke the Olympic record with 62.10 metres. Mikhail Krivonosov beat that mark with 63.00 metres in the second throw, and improved the record again with 63.03 metres in the third. Hal Connolly took over the record, and won the gold medal, with 63.19 metres in the fifth throw.

Schedule[edit]

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 24 November 1956 10:00
14:30		 Qualifying
Final

Results[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Blair, who had thrown 65.95 metres earlier in 1956, was removed from the United States team for violating amateurism rules by assisting a The Boston Globe sportswriter.[2]

Rank Order Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 1 Anatoli Samotsvetov  Soviet Union 59.53 — — 59.53 Q
2 8 Krešimir Račić  Yugoslavia 59.06 — — 59.06 Q
3 21 Hal Connolly  United States 59.05 — — 59.05 Q
4 14 Alfons Niklas  Poland 52.11 58.46 — 58.46 Q
5 6 Tadeusz Rut  Poland 58.07 — — 58.07 Q
6 10 Jozsef Csermak  Hungary 57.95 — — 57.95 Q
7 16 Al Hall  United States 57.50 — — 57.50 Q
8 9 Dmytro Yehorov  Soviet Union 57.03 — — 57.03 Q
9 2 Sverre Strandli  Norway 56.32 — — 56.32 Q
10 15 Birger Asplund  Sweden 55.03 — — 55.03 Q
11 4 Peter Allday  Great Britain 54.98 — — 54.98 Q
12 Guy Husson  France 54.98 — — 54.98 Q
13 19 Donald Anthony  Great Britain 53.10 54.89 — 54.89 Q
14 7 Muhamad Iqbal  Pakistan 54.59 — — 54.59 Q
15 20 Mikhail Krivonosov  Soviet Union 54.53 — — 54.53 Q
16 18 Song Gyo-sik  South Korea 53.30 X 53.74 53.74
17 23 Yoshio Kojima  Japan 50.67 53.48 52.16 53.48
18 11 Alejandro Díaz  Chile X 52.23 51.33 52.23
19 3 Charlie Morris  Australia X 49.35 X 49.35
20 22 Neville Gadsen  Australia X X 48.84 48.84
21 13 Martin Crowe  Australia 45.76 48.25 48.43 48.43
22 17 Fumio Kamamoto  Japan 40.72 X 44.70 44.70
— 5 Cliff Blair  United States DNS

Final[edit]

Rank Order Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 15 Hal Connolly  United States X 60.92 62.65 61.76 63.19 OR X 63.19 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 14 Mikhail Krivonosov  Soviet Union 60.59 63.00 OR 63.03 OR X X X 63.03
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1 Anatoli Samotsvetov  Soviet Union 62.10 OR 58.13 61.94 60.22 59.20 62.56 62.56
4 12 Al Hall  United States 57.76 61.83 X 61.58 X 61.96 61.96
5 8 Jozsef Csermak  Hungary 58.27 58.43 60.70 X 59.10 X 60.70
6 6 Krešimir Račić  Yugoslavia 57.99 60.36 X X 58.07 55.09 60.36
7 7 Dmytro Yehorov  Soviet Union 60.22 X X Did not advance 60.22
8 2 Sverre Strandli  Norway 58.62 58.49 59.21 Did not advance 59.21
9 3 Peter Allday  Great Britain 57.78 57.06 58.00 Did not advance 58.00
10 10 Alfons Niklas  Poland 57.70 X X Did not advance 57.70
11 5 Muhamad Iqbal  Pakistan 56.45 55.24 56.97 Did not advance 56.97
12 13 Donald Anthony  Great Britain X 55.22 56.72 Did not advance 56.72
13 9 Guy Husson  France X X 55.02 Did not advance 55.02
14 4 Tadeusz Rut  Poland X X 53.43 Did not advance 53.43
— 11 Birger Asplund  Sweden X X X Did not advance NM

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Hammer Throw, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 340.

External links[edit]

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