Issue One - Tikhon and Moreno throw big early

From August 13th through 19th the world's eyes will turn to Greece as Athens plays host to the most prestegious games in the world: The Olympics. However, for hundreds of hammer throwers, their eyes are already on Athens. The 'A' standard was set at 78.65m for men and 67.50m for women last season. What that means is that for a country to send more than one hammer thrower to the Olympics, both must have thrown past the 'A' standard. If a country only wants to send one thrower, they need only meet the 'B' standard of 74.35m for men and 64.00m for women.

The International Scene

World Leader Ivan Tikhon (BLR)

SEATTLE - Meeting the standard was not a hard task for Adrian Annus (HUN) and Koji Murofushi (JPN), last year's silver and bronze medalists at the IAAF World Championships. Both Annus and Murofushi have opened their seasons early with world leading marks. In April Annus threw 82.03m. Murofushi responded with an early May opening mark of 82.18m to beat Annus at the Osaka Grand Prix. In late may though, the marks started to come on strong. On the 29th, Annus launched a mark of 82.59m to take at the Swiss Throwers Challenge in Magglingen. A few days later Ivan Tikhon (BLR) opened his season with a throw of 84.46m. That mark takes Tikhon past Russians Juri Tamm on the all-time hammer list to the sixth position and puts him only 2cm behind the great Igor Nikulin. Also recently the world junior record holder Olli-Pekka Karjalainen (FIN) had a breakthrough and improved his personal best and national record to 82.15m. Sydney gold medalist Szymon Ziolkowski is returning to form this year as he threw 79.41m in early June. Last season ended poorly for Ziolkowski as he was injured early in the season and never hit top form.

While quite a few top throwers sit closely atop the men's season list, twenty-three year old Yipsi Moreno is the lone women dominating this season's women's hammer list. Last year's world champion has the best six meets of the season. In late April she set a new Cuban national record of 75.18m. Five of her meets have been over 75m, however most of her meets have been on her home soil in Cuba. While she has not thrown over 75m in any foreign meets this year, she does have two quality wins at the Osaka Grand Prix in May, where she therw 72.92m to beat the top Chinese throwers, and the Sevilla Grand Prix in June, where she tossed 73.81m to beat Manuela Montebrun and Olga Kuzenkova by over three meters.

The suprise of the season is another twenty-three year old, Erin Gilreath. The young American burst onto the scene last December when she broke 70m for the first time. She dominated the indoor weight throw season by winning all eight of her meets and has continued her success outdoors. On April 10th Gilreath set a new American record at the Sun Angel Classic of 72.12m surpassing Anna Mahon's mark of 72.01m from 2002. Lastly, Wenxiu Zhang of China has been throwing very well this season. Back in late March, just two days before her 18th birthday, Zhang threw a new personal best of 70.93m. At her next meet in early April she threw a new world junior record of 72.42m and has had five meets over 70m (three over 72m) this season.

The American Scene
Since no American men have yet to meet the Olympic 'A' standard, there will be a fierce battle at this year's Olympic Trials in June. If no thrower reaches the 'A' standard by then, the top finisher who has thrown the 'B' standard will represent the US in the Olympics. James Parker was the early favorite for the spot. He won the Mt. SAC Relays in April with a personal best of 76.94m, and then improved to 77.34m at the Oregon Twilight Meet on May 1st. However, two other Americans have thrown the 'B' standard this season. Kevin McMahon placed just behind Parker at Mt. SAC with a throw of 75.42m. On May 31st, Mike Mai threw a qualifier of 74.40m to beat Parker at the US Open. Just a day earlier had thrown threw a personal best of 73.66m.

So far this season three American women have thrown the 'A' standard. Erin Gilreath, Anna Mahon, and Jackie Jeschelnig have all achieved the standard. If they remain the only three who have thrown the standard this season, all three will get to represent the US in Athens.

Mai Day is changed to May 31st

Mike Mai of the WCAP

As mentioned above, on May 31st, Mike Mai became the third American to surpass the Olympic 'B' Standard this season at the US Open meet hosted by Stanford University. "I knew the throws at the U.S. Open felt better, but to be honest, I was surprised they went that far," Mai said. Many observers of the hammer throw were also suprised. Just a few years ago Mai was one of a slew of 65m American hammer throwers. But Mai has worked hard to become one America's greatest success stories in the hammer throw. At twenty-six years old, Mai is only in his fifth year as a hammer thrower. His path to become an elite hammer thrower unique.

Mai was a discus thrower in high school, but decided to concentrate on football while attending the US Military Academy in West Point, NY. However, injuries led him to quit football and join track again. It was then that he first tried the weight throw. As Mike says, "I was not good enough at the shot put to make the indoor team travel squad, so in November of my junior year, I picked up the 35-lb weight." After picking up the technique quickly, he tried the hammer throw the following spring.

Just one year later, Mai ended his collegiate career with a best of 61.39m in 2000. However, after he completed his degree he followed the other graduates of West Point and joined the Army as a Second Lieutenant. Mai did not even contemplate continuing his throwing career. Mai explained, "I did not think my college PR was good enough to get into the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP)." His first assignment led him to Colorado Springs, Colorado, the home of the WCAP. He stayed in touch with former West Point Hammer thrower Jerry Ingalls and his coach, Mike Mielke, both of whom were both involved in the WCAP. Both inspired him to start training again and he eventually joined the WCAP program in December of 2001 and moved to San Jose, California to train with Jerry Ingalls and Mike Mielke. On his first day of training in Febuary he threw 186' (57m).

The project began to build a better technical and physical foundation for Mai to use in his throw. With the help of Mike Mielke and Dave Swan, things moved along quickly. That spring he improved to 65.99m. Last season he threw 70.42m. This season he he has thrown 74.40m. When asked what he has worked on to help improve so much, Mai responded "That is a good question, what haven't I worked on?" He added "I came here weighing 240 pounds, and though I was strong, it's nothing compared to where I am now at 270 pounds. I am probably actually faster and more agile now than I was at 240. From a technical standpoint, the most important thing Coach Swan has had me work on is driving the ball with my right side from the time I catch the ball at 180 degrees back to zero degrees. Accelerating the ball at the right time is key in the hammer. Some of the other technical things I have worked on are keeping a good posture and really relaxing my arms in the start of the throw."

When prompted about the Olympic Trials, Mai humbly commented that "There are a lot of great throwers out there this year and James Parker and Kevin McMahon are still the men to beat. I know it will take a much farther throw to beat those guys on July 12th, and I fully expect to throw farther than I did this weekend. I can only go out there and do my best, and let the chips fall where they may. With that said, I am just starting to really find my technique. This year has been more of a speed building year as opposed to the base-building we did last year, and I am really just getting going in my final speed cycle. There are definitely a lot of things I can do to throw further, and I am really focusing on these in practice. If I can keep moving along the path that I have traveled this year, there are still some big throws yet to come."

Doping scandels take down several thrower
The recent THG scandel in the USA has taken down two top American hammer throwers. John McEwan and 2003 US Champion Melissa Price were both served with two year bans by the US Anti-Dopi Agency in April for testing positive for THG last season. Their results at last year's national championships have been annulled. Also, more recently, Italian hammer thrower Lori Paoluzzi tested postitive for Norandrosterone, a steroid, in an out of competition test. Paoluzzi, who placed sixth in Sydney, and another Italian discus thrower, Danilo Liorni, face a suspension of up to two years after their second sample is tested. Fellow Italian hammer thrower Nicola Vizzoni, silver medalist in Sydney, was one of several high profile athletes whose house was raided by anti-doping police in May in a seperate investigation.

The Coming Weeks
Over the next months several European nations will be holding their national championships. The European Cup will likely be the biggest competition of the comping weeks. However, there will still be some other good meets on the circuit. Warsaw (POL) and Rethymno (GRE) will host EAA Meetings while Prague (CZE) will host the Memorial Josefa Odlozila Grand Prix II event. Last year in Prague Koji Murofushi launched an 84m throw and Adrian Annus hit 82m for second place. Hopefully this year's meet will provide as much excitement. Also newsworthy is the addition of the hammer to the schedule of events at the Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix meet in Eugene, Oregon (USA). While the full official fields have not yet been announced, Koji Murofushi, James Parker, Mike Mai, and many others will be making the trip to Track Town USA. Hammerthrow.org will be attending the event and will post photos and video following the meet.

Related Information
Top Lists/Rankings
» IAAF 2004 Top Lists (Men | Women)
» IAAF Hammer Rankings (Men | Women)
» IAAF All-time List
Recent Results
» Janusz Kusocinski Memorial (POL) 13 June 2004
» Japan National Championships 4-6 June 2004
» Russia Cup 5-6 June 2004
» ERF Bydgoszcz (POL) 5 June 2004
» Sevilla (ESP) Grand Prix 5 June 2004
» Memorial Primo Nebiolo (ITA) 4 June 2004
» Lombardia (ITA) Grand Prix 2 June 2004
» US Open (USA) 31.5.2004
» Swiss Throwing Challenge (SUI) 29.5.2004
» Hallesche Wurfertage (GER) 22.5.2004
» Japan Grand Prix (JPN) 8.5.2004

Upcoming Meets
» Memorial Josefa Odlozila Meet (CZE)
» Prefontaine Classic (USA)

Multimedia
» Video of Erin Gilreath's American Record

News articles
» Ziolkowski ready to defend title in Athens IAAF 14 June 2004
» Karjalainen - 82.15m Hammer throw IAAF 13 June 2004
» Two Italians fail doping test SF Gate 10 June 2004
» Murofushi takes Hammer in Osaka IAAF 8.5.2004
» McEwan, Price banned Eurosport 30 April 2004
» Moreno improves Area record to 75.18 in Cuban National Olympics IAAF 26.4.2004
» Gu suprised by Zhang Wenxiu's Asian Record IAAF 28.3.2004
» Moreno ends first training stage towards Athens with 73.24 IAAF 24.3.2004