The men's hammer throw at the 1960 Summer Olympics took place on September 2 (qualifying) and September 3 (final) at the Stadio Olimpico. The qualifying standards for the 1960 event were . There were 28 competitors from 18 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Vasily Rudenkov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the event. Gyula Zsivótzky took silver, Hungary's fourth medal in the last four Games in the men's hammer throw. Tadeusz Rut's bronze was Poland's first medal in the event.

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1896. Ten of the 15 finalists from the 1956 Games returned: gold medalist Hal Connolly of the United States, bronze medalist Anatoli Samotsvetov of the Soviet Union, fourth-place finisher Albert Hall of the United States, fifth-place finisher (and 1952 gold medalist) József Csermák of Hungary, sixth-place finisher Krešimir Račić of Yugoslavia, eighth-place finisher (and 1952 finalist) Sverre Strandli of Norway, eleventh-place finisher Muhammad Iqbal of Pakistan, thirteenth-place finisher Guy Husson of France, fourteenth-place finisher Tadeusz Rut of Poland, and Birger Asplund of Sweden, who did not make a legal mark in the final. Vasily Rudenkov of the Soviet Union was the favorite over defending champion Connolly.

Portugal and Spain each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. The United States appeared for the 13th time, the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point.

Competition format

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 60.00 metres advanced to the final. 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.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 149.

Records

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

The Olympic record was beaten by Gyula Zsivótzky in the qualifying round with a distance of 64.80 metres. Vasily Rudenkov bettered that with a distance of 67.03 metres. Anatoli Samotsvetov was better than the old record, but behind Rudenkov's new record.

In the final, Rudenkov bettered his own new record with 67.10 metres on his third throw. The top nine men in the final threw further than Connolly's old record, including Connolly himself (who finished eighth despite improving by 40 centimetres).

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round Friday, 2 September 1960 10:15 Qualifying Saturday, 3 September 1960 16:00 Final

Results

Qualifying round

Throwers achieving 60.00 metres advanced to the final.

Rank Order Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes 1 26 Vasily Rudenkov 67.03 — — 67.03 , 2 6 Gyula Zsivótzky 64.80 — — 64.80 3 27 Anatoli Samotsvetov 64.67 — — 64.67 4 13 Michael Ellis 63.21 — — 63.21 5 11 Hal Connolly 63.02 — — 63.02 6 9 Heinrich Thun 62.73 — — 62.73 7 22 John Lawlor X 62.10 — 62.10 8 24 Noboru Okamoto X X 61.95 61.95 9 12 Sverre Strandli 58.67 61.41 — 61.41 10 8 Antun Bezjak 60.90 — — 60.90 11 21 Muhammad Iqbal 57.84 60.86 — 60.86 12 7 Albert Hall 57.43 X 60.76 60.76 13 2 Tadeusz Rut 60.73 — — 60.73 14 25 Olgierd Ciepły 60.61 — — 60.61 15 15 Yuriy Nikulin 60.40 — — 60.40 16 28 Guy Husson 59.31 X 59.83 59.83 17 17 Claus Peter X 59.83 X 59.83 18 10 József Csermák X X 62.73 59.72 19 20 Ed Bagdonas X 59.48 X 59.48 20 5 Manfred Losch X 58.85 59.38 59.38 21 3 Takeo Sugawara 58.40 59.32 57.66 59.32 22 29 Hansruedi Jost 55.09 57.07 59.12 59.12 23 19 Siegfried Lorenz X 59.06 X 59.06 24 16 Birger Asplund 57.27 X X 57.27 18 Krešimir Račić 57.27 X X 57.27 26 14 José Luis Falcón 51.26 57.24 X 57.24 27 23 Andreas Kouvelogiannis 53.43 X 55.18 55.18 28 1 Eduardo Albuquerque 53.26 54.31 54.92 54.92 — 4 Erman Bastian

Final

The six highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes Vasily Rudenkov 65.60 64.98 67.10 66.62 64.58 66.23 67.10 Gyula Zsivótzky 60.83 63.83 64.87 65.79 X 65.11 65.79 Tadeusz Rut 64.51 65.64 64.95 X 64.85 63.54 65.64 4 John Lawlor X 62.59 64.09 64.95 X X 64.95 5 Olgierd Ciepły 60.03 64.07 62.27 64.57 62.48 62.06 64.57 6 Antun Bezjak 61.96 64.21 63.54 63.95 62.86 X 64.21 7 Anatoli Samotsvetov X 63.60 X Did not advance 63.60 8 Hal Connolly 63.05 62.57 63.59 Did not advance 63.59 9 Heinrich Thun 62.23 X 63.53 Did not advance 63.53 10 Yuriy Nikulin 61.56 63.10 62.23 Did not advance 63.10 11 Sverre Strandli X 62.02 63.05 Did not advance 63.05 12 Muhammad Iqbal 60.55 61.79 60.80 Did not advance 61.79 13 Noboru Okamoto X 60.08 X Did not advance 60.08 14 Albert Hall 59.64 X 59.76 Did not advance 59.76 15 Michael Ellis X 54.22 X Did not advance 54.22

References

External links Olympic Games Official Report 1960 Rome-Volume I Olympic Games Official Report 1960 Rome-Volume II