The Hammer Throw event originally involved a type of sledge hammer but in the modern event a metal ball on a wire is used. In the men’s event it weighs 7.23kg and is 122 cm in length.

Yuriy Sedykh is the current men’s world record holder. He managed a throw of 86.74 metres at the Stuttgart games in 1986.

hammer yuriy sedykh

The current women’s world record holder is the Polish athlete Anita Wlodarczyk. She threw the Hammer a distance of 78.30 metres in 2010.

The Shot Put is a throwing event using a similar technique to the Discus but here the object thrown is a heavy round metal ball.

The athlete must begin their throw in under 60 seconds once they enter the throwing circle and they are not allowed to wear gloves. If their feet leave the circle at any point, the throw in not counted as a valid attempt.

The current men’s world record holder is Randy Barnes from the USA. His record throw was made in 1990 with 23.12 metres.

shotput-barnes

Natalya Lisovskaya from Russia holds the women’s record with a distance of 22.63 metres made in 1987.

The Discus Throw is another Olympic throwing event, here the athletes throw a heavy disc. This event has been part of the Olympic games since the first Olympiad back in 1896.

The men’s discus weighs 2kg and has a diameter of 220mm, the womens discus is lighter at just 1kg with a 181mm diameter. Competitors in this event throw from a concrete circle, they spin around 1.5 times to produce momentum and then make their throw.

Strength is an important attribute for discus throwers but they also need a good technique. If the athlete’s feet go outside of the circle at any point during the throw, it does not count as a valid attempt.

discus jürgen schult

The current world record holder is the German Jürgen Schult with a distance of 74.08 metres. The womens record holder is also German, Gabriele Reinsch has a 76.80 metre record.

The Javelin is one of the most prestigious throwing events at the Olympic games. Also, it is based on one of man’s oldest activities - throwing a spear to hunt for food.

A modern day Javelin is around 2.5 metres long. Athletes are allowed a run-up and then must throw the Javelin as far as they can. The front point of the Javelin has to land first in order for the throw to be valid.

The current men’s world record holder is the Czech athlete Jan Zelezný with a distance of 98.48 metres.

javelin jan zelezný

The current women’s record holder is also from the Czech Republic, Barbora Špotáková has a record throw of 72.28 metres.

The Pole Vault is a variation on the High Jump event. The aim is the same – to make the highest vertical jump over a horizontal bar, but the athlete uses a pole made of fiber glass or carbon fiber to assist them.

This is an event where technical skill is as important as physical fitness.

Sergey Bubka from the Ukraine is the current world record holder. He made a sucessful jump of 6.14 metres in 1994.

pole-vault-sergei-bubka

The women’s record is currently held by Elena Isinbaeva from Russia. She managed a jump of 5.06 metres in Zurich in 2009.

The High Jump is a different kind of jumping event where the competitor must make the highest vertical jump possible over a horizontal bar. If this bar is knocked off during the jump it does not count as a valid jump.

There have been a number of different techniques for this event over the years including a straight run up and the scissors method. However, the most popular technique now is the Fosbury Flop, where the athlete uses an arc run up and goes over the bar backwards and head first.

Javier Sotomayor is the current men’s world record holder. He is from Cuba and managed a jump of 2.45 metres.

high jump-sotomayor_javier

The women’s record is held by the Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova with a 2.09 metre jump.

The triple jump is a similar event to the long jump but the distance includes a section of the run up. Specifically a hop, skip from one board and then a jump from a second board. As you can imagine, the world record here is much longer.

The triple jump is based on one of the original ancient Greek Olympic jumping events, the exact rules have changed somewhat over time though.

The current holder of the men’s world record is the British athlete Jonathan Edwards with a jump of 18.29 metres set in 1995.

triple jump-jonathan-edwards

The Ukranian Inessa Kravets holds the women’s record with a distance of 15.50 metres which was also set in 1995, a good year for triple jumpers.

The long jump has been an Olympic medal event since the first modern Olympic Games back in 1896. A competitor has to take a run-up and make a jump from a wooden board just 20 cm wide. If any part of the foot goes over the edge of the board the jump is not counted.

There are 4 main parts to a sucessful long jump: the approach run-up, the last two strides, take-off and movement in the air and the landing.

The current men’s world record holder is Mike Powell from the USA with a jump of 8.95 metres.

long jump-mike powell

The women’s world record is held by the Russian Galina Chistyakova with a distance on 7.52 metres.

The hurdles event is run over 3 distances – the 100 metres, the 110 metres and the 400 metres hurdles.

The current world records are:

100 metres hurdles (women) – Yordanka Donkova from Bulgaria with a time of 12.21 seconds.

110 metres hurdles (men) – Dayron Robles from Cuba posted a time of 12.87 seconds.

400 metres hurdles (men) – Kevin Young from the USA holds the record of 46.78 seconds.

hurdles

To compete well in the hurdles events you need the same skills as a sprinter, but you also require excellent timing and extra leg strength to negotiate the hurdles.

The 1500 metres event is 1 mile long, almost 4 laps of a standard athletics track and is a challenging race. Stamina is especialy important here but you also need good pacing and race strategy. Cardiovascular endurance and the ability to deal with the lactic acid produced by the body during prolonged exertion are necessary but can be developed with the proper training.

If you are considering making this your event, try running the distance a few times. If you are getting completing the race in under 5 minutes then the 1500 metres could be for you.

The current world record is set at 3 minutes and 26 seconds by Hicham El Guerrouj, an athlete from Morocco. He ran this time back on the 14^th july 1998 at the Golden Gala in Rome, Italy.

1500 metres-Hicham-Guerrouj