Hammer Throw, Men

The Americans were not present because of the boycott, but in this event nobody noticed. Defending champion Yury Sedykh was the best thrower in the world and always seemed to come thru in major meets, having won the 1978 European Championship as well. He was favored but his Soviet teammates were formidable, led by Sergey Litvinov and Estonian Jüri Tamm. The only important missing athlete was West Germany’s Karl-Hans Riehm, a previous world record holder, who was undefeated in the pre-Olympic year. Sedykh settled the competition quickly. He threw first in the final and unleashed a world record 81.80 (268-4½). It would stand up for the gold. Sedykh had four of the longest throws in the event. Litvinov won silver with his opening 80.64 (264-6¾) and then had five fouls. Tamm completed the second consecutive Soviet medal sweep.