World Championships: Women's hammer
The women’s hammer wasn’t introduced to the championships until Seville in 1999. A very easy winner was Mihaela Melinte, who came close to her 75.97m world record with a final-round throw of 75.20m. An isolated second was a previous record-setter Olga Kuzenkova.
Six metres down, Lisa Misipeka won a first bronze for America Samoa. Twenty-first and last with 50.38m was Kamila Skolimowska. A year later she won the Olympics.
In Edmonton in 2001, Kuzenkova again won silver as she was narrowly beaten by just four centimetres by 20-year-old Cuban Yipsi Moreno, who had been just 18th in Seville. Lorraine Shaw finished sixth with 65.89m, which remains the best British women’s performance in the three heavy throws.
Moreno defended her title in Paris in 2003, winning with 73.33m with Kuzenkova second yet again. Former champion Melinte was sixth and future champion Betty Heidler was 11th, a place behind Shaw.
After three silvers, it seemed Olympic champion Kuzenkova had won her first world gold when her 75.10m, her best for five years, gave her a clear advantage. Eight years later a retesting suggested she had doped and she lost her gold medal. That was redirected to Moreno, who had two throws over 73m. World record-holder Tatyana Lysenko eventually took silver while Manuela Montebrun ultimately won her second bronze.
Lysenko would have been favourite for Osaka in 2007, but after setting a world record of over 77 metres, she failed a doping test. Despite her absence, it was a quality competition with a record nine over 70 metres, not including Ivana Brkljacic, who threw 74.69m in qualifying but six metres less in the final.
Heidler, who had failed to qualify for the final in Helsinki, won courtesy of a 74.76m with Moreno just two centimetres down.
In Berlin, the German threw a national record 77.12m and had five throws over 75 metres but was only second. Anita Wlodarczyk stunned the opposition with a 77.96m world record and celebrated so enthusiastically that she damaged her ankle. Twelve athletes broke 70m in qualifying and 11 in the final.
Heidler was the big favourite for Daegu in 2011 after setting a world record 79.42m in May. However, she was dominated by Lysenko, who had throws of 77.09m and then 77.13m, with Heidler improving to 76.06 in the fifith round to take silver.
The competition in Moscow in 2013 saw Lysenko start impressively with throws of 77.58m and 77.34m but then get overtaken in the third round by Wlodarczyk’s 77.79m. The Russian responded superbly with a championships record 78.80m in the fourth round. The Pole came back with 78.46m to go close but couldn’t raise herself in the final two rounds and Lysenko defended her title successfully.
Britain’s Sophie Hitchon, who had made the Olympic final, couldn’t do the same in Moscow, but her 68.56m was easily the furthest in the championships by a Briton.
Year | Winner | Throw | GB position and mark
1999 Mihaela Melinte (ROU) 75.20 14 Lorraine Shaw 62.09
2001 Yipsi Moreno (CUB) 70.65 6 Lorraine Shaw 65.89
2003 Yipsi Moreno (CUB) 73.33 10 Lorraine Shaw 65.95
2005 Yipsi Moreno (CUB) 73.08 NQ Shirley Webb 64.16
2007 Betty Heidler (GER) 74.76 No competitor
2009 Anita Wlodarczyk (POL) 77.96 NQ Zoe Derham NM
2011 Tatyana Lysenko (RUS) 77.13 NQ Sophie Hitchon 64.93
2013 Tatyana Lysenko (RUS) 78.80 NQ Sophie Hitchon 68.56
Points table (8 for 1st etc)
1. RUS 57
2. CUB 39
3. CHN 37
4. GER 36
5. POL 33
6. FRA 19
7. ROU 14
8. AUS 10
9= ASA 6
9= SVK 6
9= HUN 6
15. GBR 3
» Find other event-by-event history features here
