Men Hammer Throw Athletics I World Championship 1983 Helsinki, Finland - Tuesday 09.08 - Gold Medal: Sergey Litvinov, Soviet Union

Men Hammer Throw Athletics I World Championship 1983 Helsinki, Finland - Tuesday 09.08 - Gold Medal: Sergey Litvinov, Soviet Union

Final		Distance	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	Q.
1. Sergey Litvinov	URS	82.68m	82.68	82.04	73.54	80.90	80.26	81.84
2. Yuriy Sedykh	URS	80.94m	79.22	79.76	80.64	80.94	78.96	X
3. Zdzislaw Kwasny	POL	79.42m	77.38	79.42	79.16	76.44	76.40	X
4. Igor Nikulin	URS	79.34m	77.86	78.46	X	78.96	79.34	77.74
5. Gunther Rodehau	GDR	77.08m	X	76.04	74.80	77.08	75.36	76.12
6. Klaus Ploghaus	FRG	76.96m	76.96	76.12	75.26	X	76.76	76.94
7. Karl-Hans Riehm	FRG	76.92m	76.92	X	76.70	74.82	73.74	X
8. Emanuil Dyulgerov	BUL	76.64m	76.22	74.58	76.64	76.12	X	75.38
9. Juha Tiainen	FIN	75.60m	73.52	74.54	75.60
10.Harri Huhtala	FIN	75.46m	74.52	75.46	73.96
11.Christoph Sahner	FRG	72.86m	70.60	71.26	72.86
12.Roland Steuk	GDR	72.10m	72.10	X	X

Men Hammer Throw - History

Everyone was expecting Yuriy Sedykh to continue his winning sequence at major championships which already included two Olympic Games and two European Championships. Instead, the title went to his younger team-mate, the world record holder Sergey Litvinov.
Litvinov won the qualifying round before watching Sedykh open with 79.22. The younger Soviet responded with 82.68 four throws later. Sedykh improved on his next three throws, but could not get near this mark. Meanwhile, Litvinov – previously noted for his inconsistency – produced a marvellous series including two more 81m+ throws. Not only did the “wrong” Soviet win, but the USSR were deprived of their customary medal sweep in this event by the inspired Pole Kwasny. He went into third place after the second round with a personal best of 79.42. Then with the last throw of the contest, Kwasny unleashed 81.54 to overtake Sedykh for the silver medal. However, video footage of the throw showed that the Pole clearly had a rim foul at the front of the circle. After a Soviet protest, the throw was annulled, leaving Kwasny with the bronze. This decision was met with boos from the crowd when it was announced the following day.

Qualification - Monday 08.08

Mark 73.50m 10+2 Athletes

Group A		Distance	N:	1.	2.	3.
1. Zdzislaw Kwasny	POL	75.78m		73.28	73.36	75.78
2. Yuriy Sedykh	URS	75.52m		75.52	-	-
3. Juha Tiainen	FIN	75.02m		72.66	75.02	-
4. Emanuil Dyulgerov	BUL	74.74m		74.74	-	-
5. Klaus Ploghaus	FRG	74.46m		74.46	-	-
6. Igor Nikulin	URS	74.06m		74.06	-	-
7. Roland Steuk	GDR	73.68m		73.68	-	-
8. Frantisek Vrbka	TCH	71.72m		68.06	71.72	70.34
9. Robert Weir	GBR	71.62m		71.62	70.72	68.24
10.Shigenobu Murofushi	JPN	71.42m		71.42	X	X
11.Ed Burke	USA	69.12m		67.72	69.12	68.70
12.Matthew Mileham	GBR	67.12m		X	67.12	X
13.Kjell Bystedt	SWE	65.86m		65.84	64.72	65.86
14.Hakim Toumi	ALG	65.54m		65.54	63.92	63.98
15.Yingqi Xie	CHN	65.54m		62.54	65.54	63.04
16.Declan Hegarty	IRL	65.46m		65.46	X	64.12
-. Henryk Krolak	POL	NM		X	X	X

Group B		Distance	N:	1.	2.	3.
1. Sergey Litvinov	URS	78.50m		78.50	-	-
2. Gunther Rodehau	GDR	74.86m		71.28	74.86	-
3. Karl-Hans Riehm	FRG	74.56m		74.56	-	-
4. Harri Huhtala	FIN	74.28m		73.22	74.28	-
5. Christoph Sahner	FRG	73.44m		73.44	X	72.42
6. Giampaolo Urlando	ITA	72.06m		72.06	69.86	X
7. Christopher Black	GBR	71.18m		X	71.18	X
8. Mariusz Tomaszewski	POL	70.62m		70.62	X	69.44
9. Dave McKenzie	USA	69.94m		69.24	67.22	69.94
10.Richard Olsen	NOR	68.58m		67.62	68.58	X
11.John McArdle	USA	66.18m		X	64.44	66.18
12.Hans Lotz	AUS	66.14m		X	66.14	65.42
13.Fatmir Bajraktari	ALB	64.48m		61.22	61.72	64.48
-. Jiri Chamrad	TCH	NM		X	X	X
-. Ralf Haber	GDR	NM		X	X	X
-. Johann Lindner	AUT	NM		X	X	X