For the first time ever, there is a Canadian Olympic gold medalist in the men’s hammer throw. On Sunday at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, British Columbia placed first, and in the process recorded Canada’s fifth gold medal.
Katzberg set the pace very early in the event. His first throw was his best in the Olympic competition. It went 84.12 metres. In an interesting note, Katzberg’s second throw of 82.28 metres would also have won gold as no other hammer thrower reached 80 metres. Initially, Katzberg did not receive a score for his second round throw, but after further review, a score was awarded.
Bence Halasz of Hungary won the silver medal with a throw of 79.97 points. Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine won the bronze medal with a throw of 79.39 metres. Katzberg reached the podium by 4.94 metres over Eivind Henriksen of Norway, who had a throw of 79.18 metres.
This was the third Olympic medal in hammer throwing history for Canada. Con Walsh of Toronto, Ontario won the bronze medal at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, and Duncan Gillis of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia won the silver medal at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.
Team Canada is now at 17 Olympic medals. They have won five gold medals, four silver medals, and eight bronze medals.
