Ethan Katzberg’s absolutely dominant Olympic performance in the hammer throw competition yielded Canada’s first gold medal in the event since 1956.
It was Canada’s best-ever finish in the event, with the Nanaimo, B.C., native becoming the first Canadian to reach the Olympic podium in hammer throw since the 1912 Stockholm Games, where Duncan Gillis claimed silver. Canada has only medalled in the event one other time, with Con Walsh securing bronze way back at the 1908 Olympics in London.
Katzberg’s performance was one for the ages, opening the hammer throw final with a throw of 84.12 metres, and nobody else came close to matching that. The 22-year-old also posted the second-best throw of the competition at 82.28 metres, while no other competitor reached the 80-metre mark.
Katzberg ended up claiming gold by more than four metres, with Bence Halasz of Hungary winning silver with a throw of 79.97m and Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan taking bronze with a toss of 79.39m. Katzberg was quick to praise his longtime coach following his electric gold-medal win.
“I gotta give a lot of thanks to my prep man over there, Dylan Armstrong,” Katzberg said after the event. “He got me ready for this and we prepared for this for a whole year. It was the only thing we were thinking about and to be able to throw 84 and bring home the gold, that felt really good.”
“I can call myself an Olympic champion for the rest of my life and that’s a really special moment and I’ll always remember this day,” Katzberg added. “It was incredible.” His performance, however, wasn’t the only thing causing a stir, as many couldn’t help but be captivated by Katzburg’s absolutely elite hair and mustache game.
