Sport-Olympic.com

All Athletics Menu

1912 Olympic Games Stockholm, Sweden - Men's Hammer Throw

Print
Email

Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1912 Olympic Games Stockholm, Sweden - (Athletics); Last Updated: 07 May 2016; Hits: 641

Tags:

Host City: Stockholm, Sweden

Format: Qualifiers were seperated into two groups. Top three throwers qualified for the final.

Date Started: July 14, 1912

Date Finished: July 14, 1912

(Competitors: 15; Countries: 4; Finalists: 3)

Venue(s): Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm

Overview by IAAF

This was the era of McGrath and Pat Ryan (both USA). Between them they won all but two US titles between 1908 and 1922. Ryan did not compete in Stockholm, so the way was clear for McGrath, who dominated the event. Every one of his six throws was well in advance of the opposition, with his six casts averaging beyond 54m, more than 5m in advance of the next best thrower. Simon Gillis, who had injured himself in training, sprained his ankle on his third throw and had to be carried off.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

Since the late 1890’s, the hammer throw had been dominated by the Irish-born American John Flanagan. He had won three Olympic gold medals (1900, 1904, 1908), won seven AAU Championships (1897-99, 1901-02, 1906-07), and set 15 world records. But since 1907 he had had competition from American Matt McGrath, who had finished second to Flanagan at the 1908 Olympics.

McGrath had one of the longest careers of any track & field athlete ever. He finished second in the 1907 AAU Meet, and last competed in that meet in 1928, finishing fifth at 48 years old. He competed in the Olympic hammer throw four times - 1908 (2nd), 1912 (1st), 1920 (5th), and 1924 (2nd). He set two world records, one in 1907 and one in 1911. At Stockholm, McGrath was absolutely dominant. He won the event with 54.74, a margin of 6.35 metres over Canada’s Duncan Gillis. McGrath had four measured throws, the shortest of which was 4.44 metres longer than Gillis’s best mark.

		Results
Matt McGrath set a new Olympic record in the qualification with 54.13 metres and improved his record in the final with 54.74 metres.
*Hammer Throw*	Men	Final	14 July
Flanagan, who had won all three prior editions of the Olympic hammer throw and held the Olympic record of 51.92 metres, had retired since the 1908 Olympic Games. McGrath took the gold medal, besting Flanagan's Olympic record with all four of his legal marks. No other thrower beat Flanagan's Olympic mark.
Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	54.74	Matt McGrath	United States	USA	34	OR
2	47.24	Duncan Gillis	Canada	CAN	29
NP	NM	Clarence Childs	United States	USA	28
*Hammer Throw*	Men	Qualifying Round Group A	14 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	48.17	Clarence Childs	United States	USA	28
2	46.50	Robert Olsson	Sweden	SWE	29
3	45.61	Carl Johan Lind	Sweden	SWE	28
4	43.78	Denis Carey	Great Britain	GBR	39
5	42.58	Carl Jahnzon	Sweden	SWE	31
6	41.11	Arvid Åberg	Sweden	SWE	26
7	39.92	Gunnar Johnson	Sweden	SWE	22
8	38.77	Benjamin Sherman	United States	USA	31
*Hammer Throw*	Men	Qualifying Round Group B	14 July

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	54.13	Matt McGrath	United States	USA	34	OR
2	48.39	Duncan Gillis	Canada	CAN	29
3	43.32	Nils Linde	Sweden	SWE	21
4	42.58	Ralph Rose	United States	USA	28
5	38.44	Viktor Hackberg	Sweden	SWE	20
AC	NM	Simon Gillis	United States	USA	32

McGrath on the way to win the gold medal.

Detailed List

Place	Athlete	Preliminary				Final			Best mark
Place	Athlete	1	2	3	Rank	4	5	6	Best mark
1	Matt McGrath (USA)	54.13 OR	—	—	1st	52.83	53.90	54.74 OR	54.74
2	Duncan Gillis (CAN)	46.17	—	48.39	2nd	—	47.24	—	48.39
3	Clarence Childs (USA)	48.17	—	—	3rd	—	—	—	48.17

4	Robert Olsson (SWE)	39.56	46.50	—	4th				46.50
5	Carl Johan Lind (SWE)	45.06	—	45.61	5th				45.61
6	Denis Carey (GBR)	38.99	43.78	—	6th				43.78
7	Nils Linde (SWE)	43.32	—	—	7th				43.32
8	Carl Jahnzon (SWE)	39.18	42.58	—	8th				42.58
8	Ralph Rose (USA)	—	40.80	42.58	8th				42.58
10	Arvid Åberg (SWE)	—	—	41.11	10th				41.11
11	Gunnar Johnson (SWE)	38.66	39.92	—	11th				39.92
12	Benjamin Sherman (USA)	38.71	—	38.77	12th				38.77
13	Viktor Hackberg (SWE)	—	—	38.44	13th				38.44
14	Simon Gillis (USA)	—			14th				None