Olympics-Athletics-Canada’s Katzberg wins gold in men’s hammer throw

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Helen Reid

PARIS (Reuters) -Canada’s Ethan Katzberg won gold in the men’s hammer throw at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, cementing his dominance of the discipline after becoming the youngest ever world champion last year.

Katzberg, 22, who cuts a distinctive figure with his moustache and long curly hair, asserted himself with a first throw of 84.12 metres, and none of his rivals could respond.

“I don’t think I expected it, but I had the preparation in mind to get a good round on the first throw, and to throw 84 metres felt really good,” Katzberg said.

Hungary’s Bence Halasz won silver with 79.97 and Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan won bronze with 79.39.

The three hammer throwers jokingly took turns to put questions to each other in the press conference after their win, as journalists in the Stade de France thronged the men’s 100-metre medallists instead.

A podium of Katzberg, Halasz, who was celebrating his 27th birthday on Sunday, and 23-year-old Kokhan, represented a changing of the guard as defending Olympic champion, Poland’s Wojciech Nowicki, 35, finished seventh and his teammate, Tokyo bronze medallist Pawel Fajdek, was fifth, taking a bow after his final throw.

Norway’s Eivind Henriksen, who won silver in Tokyo, was fourth.

Kokhan, who secured his bronze medal after Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Iryna Gerashchenko won gold and bronze in the high jump, said it was a great night for his country.

“These medals are very important for Ukraine. Because our people finally have happy time, they can cheer us, and they can celebrate this with us. Not to think about the war for one day,” he said.

(Reporting by Helen ReidEditing by Toby Davis)