Canada has another gold medal at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games as Ethan Katzberg put on an absolute clinic in the hammer throw competition.
The 22-year-old nearly set an Olympic record in his first throw of the final, tossing it a whopping 84.12 metres. This throw was just 0.68 metres off the Olympic record of 84.80 metres set by Russian athlete Sergey Litvinov back in 1988.
As impressive as that throw was, it was not Katzberg’s personal best. He threw a Canadian record 84.38 metres at an event in Nairobi, Kenya, earlier this year.
That was all Katzberg needed to capture the gold medal, as nobody else was able to come close to that first throw. The nearest score to the Canadian was a 79.97-metre throw from Hungarian Bence Halasz.
He makes Canadian history, capturing the first-ever medal for the country in the hammer throw and Canada’s fifth gold medal of these Olympic Games. Katzberg also becomes the youngest-ever Olympic gold medalist in the hammer throw
Athlétisme 🎽🔨 : quel lancer! Ethan Katzberg envoie son marteau à 68 cm du record olympique! 🤯 Il est au 1er rang provisoire avec un lancer de 84,12 m.@kevenbreton @TeamCanada #Paris2024 #rcsports pic.twitter.com/6UnN6IDs8j
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 4, 2024
The B.C. native is among the brightest young athletes in the sport, having won the 2023 World Championships in Hungary and the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile.
Katzberg is also the first North American athlete to medal in this event since American Lance Deal won silver at the Atlanta 1996 Games. He is the first North American to win gold in hammer throw since American Hal Connelly did so at the Melbourne 1956 Games.
Fellow Canadian thrower Rowan Hamilton finished in ninth place with a 76.59-metre throw.
Canada’s medal count has now increased to 17, with five gold, four silver, and eight bronze.