| Date | 1 August 1932 — 14:30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 14 from 9 countries | |
| Format | Final only. | |
Ville Pörhölä had won the shot put gold medal in 1920 but had now turned to the hammer throw. With defending champion Pat O’Callaghan, he was co-favorite, as they led the world lists in 1932.
Pörhölä led early in Los Angeles, with 51.27 (168-2½) in round one, and his best throw, 52.27 (171-6), in round two. O’Callaghan was second after the second round, with 52.21 (171-3½), but he came thru in the final round with 53.92 (176-11) to defend his gold medal in the event.
O’Callaghan had struggled with his footwear in the first part of the final but, after Bob Tisdall had won the 400m hurdles, his fellow Irishman helped file down his spikes and this had a desired effect on O’Callaghan’s performance.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | Round #4 Distance | Round #5 Distance | Round #6 Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 252 | Pat O'Callaghan |  IRL | 53.92 | 47.76 | 52.21 | 50.87 | 51.81 | 51.85 | 53.92 | Gold | ||
| 2 | 130 | Ville Pörhölä |  FIN | 52.27 | 51.27 | 52.27 | x | x | 50.86 | 51.76 | Silver | ||
| 3 | 467 | Pete Zaremba |  USA | 50.33 | 50.33 | 47.67 | 50.16 | x | x | x | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 386 | Ossian Skiöld |  SWE | 49.25 | 49.25 | 47.95 | 48.39 | 47.84 | 48.08 | 48.75 | |||
| 5 | 443 | Grant McDougall | USA | 49.12 | 48.36 | 49.02 | x | 49.12 | x | 48.79 | |||
| 6 | 9 | Federico Kleger |  ARG | 48.33 | 42.57 | 45.77 | 48.33 | x | x | 47.79 | |||
| 7 | 381 | Gunnar Jansson | SWE | 47.79 | 47.33 | x | 47.79 | – | – | – | |||
| 8 | 267 | Armando Poggioli |  ITA | 46.90 | 44.25 | 45.47 | 46.90 | – | – | – | |||
| 9 | 276 | Fernando Vandelli | ITA | 45.16 | x | 43.42 | 45.16 | – | – | – | |||
| 10 | 291 | Yuji Nagao |  JPN | 43.41 | 43.41 | x | x | – | – | – | |||
| 11 | 340 | Francisco Robledo |  MEX | 41.61 | 37.07 | 41.61 | x | – | – | – | |||
| 12 | 295 | Masayoshi Ochiai | JPN | 41.00 | x | 38.70 | 41.00 | – | – | – | |||
| 13 | 37 | Carmine Giorgi |  BRA | 36.45 | 35.49 | 36.45 | x | – | – | – | |||
| 413 | Frank Conner | USA | – | x | x | x | – | – | – |
