Anita Włodarczyk (Polish pronunciation: [aˈɲita vwɔˈdart͡ʂɨk]; born 8 August 1985) is a Polish hammer thrower. She is the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion, and the first woman in history to throw the hammer over 80 m; she currently holds the women's world record of 82.98 m. She is considered the greatest female hammer thrower of all time.[2][3]
She was voted the Polish Sports Personality of the Year in 2016 and received the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2021 for her outstanding achievements in sport.[4][5]
Career
editEarly life and competition
editWłodarczyk won her first national U23 championships in 2007, and went on to compete in the 2007 European Athletics U23 Championships, although she did not progress beyond the qualifying round. She finished fourth in the hammer throw competition at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Włodarczyk qualified for the 2008 World Athletics Final and won a bronze medal. The following year, she took part in the 2009 European Team Championships, winning her first gold medal at a major international competition.
Włodarczyk achieved a personal best throw of 76.20 metres (250.0 ft), achieved on 30 May 2009 in Biała Podlaska, beating her previous record by 81 cm and improve 76.59 m in Golden Spike Ostrava. Prior to the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, she produced a national record-breaking performance in Cottbus, winning the competition with a world-leading 77.20-metre (253.3 ft) throw. This was fourth longest throw by a woman in hammer throw.
First world record
editOn 22 August 2009, during the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany, Włodarczyk set a world record with a throw of 77.96 metres (255 ft 9 in).[6] Her season ended prematurely when she twisted her left ankle during her celebration.[7] Returning to competition at the Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar in April 2010, she easily won her event with a throw of 75.13 m.[8] She then proceeded to break her existing world record with a 78.30-metre (256.9 ft) hammer throw at the Enea Cup in Bydgoszcz on 6 June 2010.[9] She won the bronze at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and was ranked second overall for the season in the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, finishing behind Betty Heidler.[10] She finished outside of the medals at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, coming fifth overall.
Olympic Games and further successes
editIn 2012, Włodarczyk finished third at the Ostrava Golden Spike and was the runner-up at the Prefontaine Classic.[11] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won the silver medal with a throw of 77.60 m.[12] On 11 October 2016, she was retroactively awarded gold after Russia's Tatyana Lysenko was stripped of the medal after testing positive in reanalysis of her stored doping samples.[13][14][15]
In 2014, Włodarczyk won the European Championship with a throw of 78.76, which was a championship and national record.[16]
On 1 August 2015 Włodarczyk set a new world record with a throw of 81.08 metres (266.0 ft) and became the first woman to throw the hammer over 80 metres (260 ft).[17] She went on to win the gold medal at the World Championships, once again throwing over 80 metres (260 ft).
On 15 August 2016 Włodarczyk won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio, setting a new world record with a throw of 82.29 metres (270.0 ft).[18] On 28 August 2016, she threw 82.98 metres (272.2 ft), setting a new world record just two weeks after the Olympics at the EAA 7th Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Warsaw. In competition, Włodarczyk uses some of the equipment that belonged to the late Skolimowska, as a tribute to her fellow hammer thrower.[19]
In 2014, 2016 and 2017 she was given Track & Field News Athlete of the Year award.
In 2017, she received Polish Sportspersonality of the Year Award for her sports achievements in the previous year. She finished the year with a 42 contests winning streak which began in July 2014.[20]
As of 2020[update], she holds all of the top 15 women's hammer throw results and 27 out of the top 30.[21]
Third consecutive Olympic gold medal
editAt the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won the hammer throw event with a throw of 78.48 m. Włodarczyk is the only woman to ever win this event three times in a row (in the men's competition, only John Flanagan did so, winning the event at the 1900, 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympics). She is also the first woman to win a specific individual athletics event three times in a row at the Olympic Games. With three Olympic gold medals, she ranks third in the all-time medal table among Polish athletes who competed at the Summer Olympics, behind racewalker Robert Korzeniowski and sprinter Irena Szewińska.
Awards and accolades
editSome of the selected awards and honours she received for her sports achievements include:
- Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2009[22]
- Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2016[23]
- Polish Sports Personality of the Year awarded by the Przegląd Sportowy magazine, 2016[24]
- Honorary Citizen of the town of Rawicz, 2016[25]
- Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2021[26]
- In 2021, Mattel announced the creation of a Shero Barbie doll with Włodarczyk's image for her “inspiration to others” in pursuing their dreams. She became the third Polish woman to have one after Martyna Wojciechowska and Iwona Blecharczyk.[27]
International competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | European U23 Championships | Debrecen, Hungary | 9th | 63.74 m |
| 2008 | European Winter Throwing Cup | Split, Croatia | 1st | 71.84 m |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 4th | 71.56 m | |
| World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 3rd | 70.97 m | |
| 2009 | European Team Championships | Leiria, Portugal | 1st | 75.23 m |
| World Championships | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 77.96 m  
| |
| 2010 | European Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 3rd | 73.56 m |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 5th | 73.56 m |
| 2012 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 74.29 m |
| Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 1st | 77.60 m | |
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 1st | 78.46 m |
| Jeux de la Francophonie | Nice, France | 1st | 75.62 m | |
| 2014 | European Championships | Zürich, Switzerland | 1st | 78.76 m
|
| Continental Cup | Marrakesh, Morocco | 1st | 75.21 m | |
| 2015 | World Championships | Beijing, China | 1st | 80.85 m
|
| 2016 | European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 1st | 78.14 m |
| Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 1st | 82.29 m OR
| |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 1st | 77.90 m |
| 2018 | Athletics World Cup | London, United Kingdom | 1st | 78.74 m |
| European Championships | Berlin, Germany | 1st | 78.94 m
| |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 78.48 m |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 13th (q) | 71.17 m |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 2nd | 72.92 m |
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 4th | 74.23 m |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Anita Włodarczyk's profile at the IAAF site
- ^ Ansari, Aarish (16 June 2021). "Olympic records in throwing events – going the distance with a spear, disc, hammer and ball". IOC. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Landells, Steve (15 August 2016). "Report: women's hammer final – Rio 2016 Olympic Games". IAAF. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- ^ "Włodarczyk chosen as Polish sportsperson of 2016". poland.pl. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "M.P. 2021 poz. 1023". isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ [1] Archived 9 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Earth Times
- ^ http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=55178.htmlIAAF. Archived 2 October 2012 at archive.today
- ^ Turner, Chris (24 April 2010). "Wlodarczyk blasts out 75.13m release in Dakar – IAAF World Challenge". IAAF. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
- ^ Jackowski, Pawel (6 June 2010). "78.30m World record in the Hammer Throw by Wlodarczyk in Bydgoszcz – UPDATED". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ "Murofushi and Heidler take overall titles and prize of $30,000 each – IAAF World Hammer Throw Challenge". IAAF. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Gains, Paul (2 June 2012). "Dibaba 30:24.39 and Kiprop 27:01.98 on stunning but wet first night in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League". IAAF. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Women's Hammer Throw Final Round | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
- ^ "IOC sanctions Tatyana Lysenko for failing anti-doping test at London 2012". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Hammer Throw Women – The XXX Olympic Games". IAAF.org. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "London 2012 Hammer Throw Women". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "2014 European Athletics Championships" (PDF). European Athletics. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
- ^ Florian van Dijck (1 August 2015). WOMEN HAMMER OVER 80M!!! WLODARCZYK THROWS WR !!! 81.08m (266′ 0″) Archived 24 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Hammer Throw Women – The XXXI Olympic Games". IAAF.org. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- ^ Mulkeen, Jon; Mikiel, Marta. "Inspired by Skolimowska, Wlodarczyk aims to become first to throw 80 metres". IAAF. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-challenge/news/golden-spike-ostrava-world-challenge-2018-wlo [dead link]
- ^ "Hammer Throw women senior – All time top lists". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Prezydent.pl
- ^ "M.P. 2016 poz. 1208". isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Włodarczyk chosen as Polish sportsperson of 2016". poland.pl. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ Michał Bugno (23 December 2023). "Anita Włodarczyk została Honorową Obywatelką Rawicza". sportowefakty.wp.pl (in Polish).
- ^ "M.P. 2021 poz. 1023". isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 15 April 2023.
- ^ "Hammer-throwing champ joins distinguished list of 'inspirational women' after being turned into Shero Barbie doll". www.thefirstnews.com. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
External links
edit- Anita Włodarczyk at World Athletics
- Anita Włodarczyk at European Athletics
- Anita Włodarczyk at the Polski Związek Lekkiej Atletyki (in Polish)
- Anita Włodarczyk at Olympedia
- Anita Włodarczyk at Olympics.com
- Anita Włodarczyk at the Polski Komitet Olimpijski (archive) (in Polish)
