Top 6 Best Men's Weight Throwers of All Time

The weight throw, also known as the hammer throw, is one of the best displays of raw human strength in sports. Athletes must heave their weight as high and far as possible down the field, and only the best compete for championships. Great weight throwers combine otherworldly power with carefully crafted technique to become the best in the business. Keep reading below to learn about the six best men’s weight throwers of all time.

What are the best men’s weight throwers in the world?

1. Yuriy Sedykh
2. Sergey Litvinov
3. Vadim Devyatovskiy
4. Koji Murofushi
5. Igor Astapkovich
6. Ivan Tikhon

1. Yuriy Sedykh

• Holds the world record in men’s weight throw (86.74 meters/284 feet 7 inches)
• Two-time Olympic gold medalist
• World Championships gold and silver medalist

In 1986, just a month after the world record had been set, Yuriy Sedykh launched his weight farther than any man had ever done before and cemented himself atop the world record leaderboard. However, Sedykh’s legacy extends far beyond his record-breaking throw. He won a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games, and in 1980 he repeated as Olympic champion. Sedykh returned to the Olympics in 1988 and won a silver medal, a resume that would have sufficed had it stopped there. However, the Russian thrower accomplished far more during his career. At the World Championships he took home a silver medal in 198, and eight years later in 1991, he captured the gold. Sedykh was also a three-time European Championships gold medalist. 

2. Sergey Litvinov

• Holds the record for second-farthest men’s weight throw ever (86.04 meters/282 feet 3 inches)
• Olympic gold and silver medalist
• Two-time World Championships gold medalist

Just 58 days before Sedykh set the new world record, Sergey Litvinov was the talk of the sporting world. He set what was then a world record with his 86.04 meter (or 282 foot 3 inch) throw in July of 1986, a moment that came in the prime of his throwing career. Litvinov won a silver medal at the 1980 Olympics, and in 1988 he defeated Sedykh to seize the gold. Litvinov was also great in international competition, winning a pair of gold medals at the 1983 and 1987 World Championships. On a continental scale, he was a bronze medalist at the 1982 European Championships and took home a silver medal in 1986 on the same day that Sedykh set the new world record.

3. Vadim Devyatovskiy

• Holds the record for third-farthest men’s weight throw ever (84.90 meters/278 feet 6 inches)
• Olympic silver and bronze medalist
• World Championships gold medalist

In 2005 in his home country of Belarus, Vadim Devyatovskiy recorded the farthest men’s weight throw of the century, launching his throw over 278 feet. That was typical of Devyatovskiy, who always seemed to flourish in his native land. He won three national championships in Belarus, but he was also very successful abroad. In 2004 at his first Olympics, he won a bronze medal, and when he returned in 2008 he was able to capture the silver. In 2005, the same year as his personal-best throw, Devyatovskiy won gold at the World Championships, and a month later he won a silver medal at the World Athletics Final.

4. Koji Murofushi

• Holds the record for fourth-farthest men’s weight throw ever (84.86/278 feet 5 inches)
• Olympic gold and bronze medalist
• World Championships gold and silver medalist

Kojii Murofushi holds a unique distinction that no one else on this list can claim: he is the only Asian athlete within the top 80 of all time in weight throwing. Murofushi burst onto the scene in the early 2000s, and in 2003 recorded what was at the time the farthest throw the sport had seen in 17 years. In 2004, he took home the gold medal at the Olympic Games; he came back eight years later to capture a bronze. He also completed the medal trifecta at the World Championships, winning gold, silver, and bronze during his career. By far, Murofushi’s most impressive accomplishment was his dominance of weight throw in his home country. From 2000 to 2013, he won 14 straight National Championships in Japan, winning a total of 16 national titles over the course of his career.

5. Igor Astapkovich

• Holds the record for fifth-farthest men’s weight throw ever (84.62 meters/277 feet 7 inches)
• Olympic silver and bronze medalist
• Three-time World Championships silver medalist

An unfortunate victim of his era, Igor Astapkovich was known for his second-place finishes. Nevertheless, that does not take away from his talent as a thrower. He captured a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games and in 2000 was able to take home a bronze. At the World Championships, he was a three-time silver medalist; he also earned a silver medal at the 1992 European Championships. However, Astapkovich finally got over the winning hump in 1990, when he became a gold medalist at the European Championships. He also won a National Championship in Belarus in 1997.

6. Ivan Tikhon

• Holds the record for sixth-farthest men’s weight throw ever (84.51 meter/277 feet 3 inches)
• Olympic silver and bronze medalist
• Two-time World Championships gold medalist

Ivan Tikhon is one of the best weight throwers in recent history, claiming a number of titles across various competitions. In both 2003 and 2007 he won gold at the World Championships, and he won all three medals at the World Athletics Finals, taking home a gold, silver, and bronze throughout his career. He was an Olympic bronze medalist in 2008 and in 2016 moved up to winning a silver medal. Tikhon was one of Belarus’s finest athletes, winning four straight National Championships between 2001 and 2004 before winning two more in 2008 and 2016.

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