Hammer Throw, Men

There were three favorites in 2004 – 2003 World Champion Ivan Tikhon (BLR), 2002 European Champion Adrián Annus (HUN), and Japan’s Koji Murofushi, bronze medalist at the 2003 Worlds, who had the third-longest throw ever – 84.86 (278-5) in 2003. In the final, Annus led from the outset, with 80.53 (264-2½) in round one, and 82.32 (270-1) in round two. In the third round, he improved to 83.19 (272-11¼), the best mark of the competition. Murofushi was second throughout, getting his best mark of 82.91 (272-0¼) in the final round, seeming to win the silver medal. Annus then passed his drug tests both before and after the competition, but after the disqualification of Róbert Fazekas from the discus, his training partner with whom he shared a coach, he was called back for another test. Annus was back in Hungary and refused to return for another test. Analysis of his samples revealed that they came from two different people and he was disqualified, the gold medal reverting to Murofushi.

And the doping story of this event did not end there. In 2012 the IOC re-tested the drug samples from the 2004 Olympics. Tikhon’s sample was found to have the presence of a methendienone metabolite, an anabolic steroid. This was announced before the London 2012 Olympics and he was not allowed to compete, but in December 2012 he was disqualified from the 2004 Olympics and his silver medal removed. It has been decided that no further medals would be upgraded in this event and thus, as of June 2021, the only medal awarded in the 2004 hammer throw was Murofushi’s gold medal.