If you are a thrower, be it discus, javelin, shot putt or hammer, you must know that you are being taught not just a sport but some of the greatest methods of hunting and defense human beings used that date back to the beginning of civilization.
Evidence has been found from hundreds of thousands of years ago back in the Homo-Neanderthal era proving facts that items like spears, rocks and carved flat-surfaced stones and pieces of wood had been thrown distances with the strength of a human hand alone. Animal skin sinew had been tied onto heavy rocks to throw them greater distances. All of these seem to have been used for man to either catch their prey or to defend themselves.
These methods evolved over time, finally debuting as throwing events at the first ever Olympics held in Athens, Greece in 1896. Even though only discus and shot putt took place that year, while hammer throw and javelin were introduced to the Olympics in only 1900 and 1908 respectively, this was the first glimpse the world had to throwing events.
The first time that all 4 throwing events took place was at the 1908 Olympics in London, England.
The first gold medalists for the throwing events at the Olympics are as follows:
- Men’s Discus Throw – USA, Robert Garett (1896)
- Women’s Discuss Throw – Poland, Helena Konopacka (1928)
- Men’s Shot Putt – USA, Robert Garett (1896)
- Women’s Shot Putt – France, Micheline Ostermeyer (1948)
- Men’s Hammer Throw – USA, John Flannagan (1900)
- Women’s Hammer Throw – Poland, Kamila Skolimowska (2000)
- Men’s Javelin Throw – Sweden, Eric Lemming (1908)
- Women’s Javelin Throw – USA, Babe Didrikson (1932)
All throwing events at the Olympics consist of 1 qualifying round, 3 competitive rounds and 3 final rounds. Everyone that throws past the required distance gets into the competitive rounds and the top 12 usually get through.
After the first 3 competitive rounds, the judges will choose the best 8 who will then go on to the 3 final rounds.
The first tie breaker is the thrower’s second best performance, and if that also happens to be a tie, the 3rd best performance is taken into consideration, and so on.
The prehistoric spears, rocks, carved flat-surfaced stones and rocks with animal skin sinew tied onto them were all just the beginning of the javelin, shot putt, discus and hammer throws respectively.
We have definitely come a long way, from using these magnificent tools for survival and defense, to using them for the most prestigious sporting event of all time – the Olympics, as well as other sporting events as well.
The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and commonly known as Tokyo 2020, has been postponed to 2021 and will be held from the 23rd of July 2021 till the 8th of August 2021.
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