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1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - Men's Hammer Throw

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - (Athletics); Last Updated: 09 June 2016; Hits: 716

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Host City: Melbourne, Australia

Format: All those reaching 54.00 metres advanced to the final.

Date Started: November 24, 1956

Date Finished: November 24, 1956

(Competitors: 22; Countries: 14; Finalists: 15)

Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria

Overview by IAAF

Krivonosov, an athletic (1.89/90Kg) Belarussian had broken the world record with 63.34 in winning the 1954 European title, and made six improvements to 67.32 in October 1956. Connolly then threw 68.54 three weeks before the Melbourne final. Their dominance was dented briefly by Clifford Blair, who threw an unratified 65.95, before curiously being ejected from the US team by the US Olympic committee for persistently refusing to stop writing newspaper articles! The Olympic record survived the qualifying round, led by Samotsvetov (59.53). However, it fell quickly to the Russian’s 62.10 in the opening round of the final. Hall broke into a Soviet top three in the next round with 61.83, as Krivonosov took over the lead with 63.00. Connolly – whose left arm was four inches shorter than his right – produced a foul of over 65m in the first round, moved into third in round 3 with 62.65 and then took over the lead with his fifth-round 63.19. Samotsvetov edged Hall 62.56 to 61.96 in the final round. Connolly won both the gold and a wife. He married Czech discus winner Olga Fikotová early in 1957, after meeting her in Melbourne.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The favorite was Soviet Mikhail Krivonosov, the 1954 European Champion, who had broken the world record seven times since 1954. His biggest challenger was American Hal Connolly, who bettered Krivonosov and was the world record holder as the Melbourne Olympics began. In the final, eventual bronze medalist Anatoly Samotsvetov (URS) led after round one with 62.10 (203-9) with Krivonosov second with 60.59 (198-9½), as Connolly fouled. Krivonosov took the lead in round two with 63.00 (206-8½), while Connolly’s 60.92 (199-10½) put him in third place, trailing his teammate Al Hall. Krivonosov improved slightly in the third round with 63.03 (206-9½) while Connolly moved into second with 62.65 (205-6½). Krivonosov would do no better, fouling his final three throws. In round five, Connolly secured the gold medal with 63.19 (207-3¾). Connolly also generated headlines in Melbourne by his romance with Czechoslovakian discus throw gold medalist Olga Fikotová. They fell in love and married in Praha a few months after the Olympics, overcoming what Connolly once described as “mountains of red tape.” The best man at the ceremony was Czech distance running legend Emil Zátopek.

The third American, Cliff Blair, had set a short-lived American record of 65.95 in July, and likely would have challenged for a medal. It bettered Krivonosov's world record, but was never recognized as a world record, for unknown reasons. Blair never made got to compete at the Olympics. He was helping Boston Globe sportswriter Jerry Nason with columns from Melbourne, and was thrown off the US team for violating amateur rules by serving as a sportswriter, although Nason stood up for him, insisting that he was writing the columns, and Blair was only speaking through him.

				Results

*Hammer Throw*	Men		Final	24 November

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records
1	63.19		Hal Connolly	United States	USA	25	OR
2	63.03		Mikhail Krivonosov	Soviet Union	URS	27	OR
3	62.56		Anatoly Samotsvetov	Soviet Union	URS	23
4	61.96		Al Hall	United States	USA	22
5	60.70		József Csermák	Hungary	HUN	24
6	60.36		Krešo Račić	Yugoslavia	YUG	24
7	60.22		Dmytro Yegorov	Soviet Union	URS	25
8	59.21		Sverre Strandli	Norway	NOR	31
9	58.00		Peter Allday	Great Britain	GBR	29
10	57.70		Alfons Niklas	Poland	POL	27
11	56.97		Muhammad Iqbal	Pakistan	PAK	29
12	56.72		Don Anthony	Great Britain	GBR	28
13	55.02		Guy Husson	France	FRA	25
14	53.43		Tadeusz Rut	Poland	POL	25
AC	NM		Birger Asplund	Sweden	SWE	27
*Hammer Throw*	Men		Qualifying Round	24 November

Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records
1	59.53	Q	Anatoly Samotsvetov	Soviet Union	URS	23
2	59.06	Q	Krešo Račić	Yugoslavia	YUG	24
3	59.05	Q	Hal Connolly	United States	USA	25
4	58.46	Q	Alfons Niklas	Poland	POL	27
5	58.07	Q	Tadeusz Rut	Poland	POL	25
6	57.95	Q	József Csermák	Hungary	HUN	24
7	57.50	Q	Al Hall	United States	USA	22
8	57.03	Q	Dmytro Yegorov	Soviet Union	URS	25
9	56.32	Q	Sverre Strandli	Norway	NOR	31
10	55.03	Q	Birger Asplund	Sweden	SWE	27
11T	54.98	Q	Peter Allday	Great Britain	GBR	29
11T	54.98	Q	Guy Husson	France	FRA	25
13	54.89	Q	Don Anthony	Great Britain	GBR	28
14	54.59	Q	Muhammad Iqbal	Pakistan	PAK	29
15	54.53	Q	Mikhail Krivonosov	Soviet Union	URS	27
16	53.74		Song Gyo-Sik	South Korea	KOR
17	53.48		Yoshio Kojima	Japan	JPN	25
18	52.23		Alejandro Díaz	Chile	CHI	36
19	49.35		Charlie Morris	Australia	AUS	30
20	48.84		Neville Gadsden	Australia	AUS	37
21	48.43		Martin Crowe	Australia	AUS	33
22	44.70		Fumio Kamamoto	Japan	JPN	38

Detailed View

Final 14:30	Team	Dist.	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.
1. Harold Connolly	USA	63.19m	X	60.92	62.65	61.76	63.19	X
2. Mikhail Krivonosov	URS	63.03m	60.59	63.00	63.03	X	X	X
3. Anatoly Samotsvetov	URS	62.56m	62.10	58.13	61.94	60.22	59.20	62.56
4. Al Hall	USA	61.96m	57.76	61.83	X	61.58	X	61.96
5. Jozsef Csermmk	HUN	60.70m	58.27	58.43	60.70	X	59.10	X
6. Kresimir Racic	YUG	60.36m	57.99	60.36	X	X	58.07	55.09
7. Dmitry Yegorov	URS	60.22m	60.22	X	X
8. Sverre Strandli	NOR	59.21m	58.62	58.49	59.21
9. Peter Allday	GBR	58.00m	57.78	57.06	58.00
10.Alfons Niklas	POL	57.70m	57.70	X	X
11.Muhammad Iqbal	PAK	56.97m	56.45	55.24	56.97
12.Don Anthony	GBR	56.72m	X	55.22	56.72
13.Guy Husson	FRA	55.02m	X	X	55.02
14.Tadeusz Rut	POL	53.43m	X	X	53.43
_. Birger Asplund	SWE	NM	X	X	X

Qualification Round - Saturday 24.11 - mark 54.00m - 14 Athletes

Group	Team	Dist.	1.	2.	3.
1. Anatoly Samotsvetov	URS	59.53m	59.53	-	-
2. Kresimir Racic	YUG	59.06m	59.06	-	-
3. Haarold Connolly	USA	59.05m	59.05	-	-
4. Alfons Niklas	POL	58.46m	52.11	58.46	-
5. Tadeusz Rut	POL	58.07m	58.07	-	-
6. Jozsef Csermmk	HUN	57.95m	57.95	-	-
7. Al Hall	USA	57.50m	57.50	-	-
8. Dmitry Yegorov	URS	57.03m	57.03	-	-
9. Sverre Strandli	NOR	56.32m	56.32	-	-
10.Birger Asplund	SWE	55.03m	55.03	-	-
11.Peter Allday	GBR	54.98m	54.98	-	-
11.Guy Husson	FRA	54.98m	54.98	-	-
13.Don Anthony	GBR	54.89m	53.10	54.89	-
14.Muhammad Iqbal	PAK	54.59m	54.59	-	-
15.Mikhail Krivonosov	URS	54.53m	54.53	-	-
16.Song Gyo-Sik	KOR	53.74m	53.30	X	53.74
17.Yoshio Kojima	JPN	53.48m	50.67	53.48	52.16
18.Alejandro Diaz	CHI	52.23m	X	52.23	51.33
19.Charles Morris	AUS	49.35m	X	49.35	X
20.Neville Gadsden	AUS	48.84m	X	X	48.84
21.Martin Crowe	AUS	48.43m	45.76	48.25	48.43
22.Fumio Kamamoto	JPN	44.70m	40.72	X	44.70