BUDAPEST – Canadian Ethan Katzberg clinched stunning hammer gold at the World Championships on Sunday (20 August) with a massive national record throw of 81.25 meters in the fifth round.
The 21-year-old beat his personal best by more than two meters in qualifying and seemed unable to believe his victory in the final.
Poland’s Olympic gold medalist Wojciech Nowicki took silver with 81.02, while Hungary’s Bence Halasz grabbed a crowd-pleasing bronze with 80.82.
Poland’s Pawel Fajdek, who was aiming for his sixth consecutive world title, beating the record held by pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, finished fourth.
“I could feel a little nervousness building up,” Katzberg admitted. “But with the first throw I gained some confidence and was very happy with my progress during the competition. I didn’t want to get too excited, so I tried to stay calm.”
“Achieving a personal best and becoming world champion is an absolutely great feeling. It hasn’t hit me yet.”
For a while it looked like Halasz, the 2019 bronze medalist, would win an emotional world gold for the host country for the first time on Hungary’s National Day.
At halftime he was leading with an impressive personal best of 80.82, only for Nowicki to overtake him by an inch.
“The most important thing in all of this is that I can make so many people happy,” said Halasz.
“I can’t describe my feelings at how many children have come to me for photos or just to cheer me on. This medal just makes everything nicer.”
Nowicki then went on top with 81.02, only for Katzberg to hit the second wide shot of the year in the fifth round, which went for gold.
“I’m even happy about this silver medal, because the competition was of a very high level,” said Nowicki.
“It was a tough fight until the end and it was very exciting. I took silver – another medal in my collection and for the Polish team and I’m very grateful that I’m still able to fight for medals at the highest level.”
“It is true that we are not getting any younger and the offspring are coming.”
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