Anita Włodarczyk

Anita Włodarczyk

Anita Włodarczyk in 2009
Personal information
Nationality	Polish
Born	8 August 1985 Rawicz, Poland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Hammer throw
Club	Skra Warsaw
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Poland Olympic Games 2012 London Hammer throw World Championships 2009 Berlin Hammer throw 2015 Beijng Hammer throw 2013 Moscow Hammer throw European Championships 2012 Helsinki Hammer throw 2014 Zürich Hammer throw 2010 Barcelona Hammer throw European Team Championships 2009 Leiria Hammer throw

Anita Włodarczyk (born 8 August 1985) is a Polish hammer thrower, and the first woman in history to throw the hammer over 80m; she currently holds the women's world record of 81.08m.

Career

Włodarczyk 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 sixth 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.

On 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).^[2] Her season ended prematurely when she twisted her left ankle during her celebration.^[3]

She recovered and returned to competition with a performance at the Meeting Grand Prix IAAF de Dakar in April 2010 and she easily won her event with a throw of 75.13 m.^[4] In excellent form, 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.^[5] 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.^[6] She finished outside of the medals at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, coming fifth overall.

At the start of her 2012 season, she came third at the Ostrava Golden Spike and runner-up at the Prefontaine Classic.^[7] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won the silver medal with a throw of 77.60 m.^[8]

In 2014, she won the European Championship with a throw of 78.76, which was a championship and national record.^[9]

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).^[10] She would then go to win the gold medal at the World Championships, once again throwing over 80 metres (260 ft).

In competition, Włodarczyk uses some of the equipment that belonged to the late Kamila Skolimowska, as a tribute to her fellow hammer thrower.^[11]

Awards

For her sport achievements, she received:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (5th Class) in 2009.^[12]

Achievements

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	6th	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	2nd	77.60 m
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	2nd	78.46 m
2014	European Championships	Zürich, Switzerland	1st	78.76 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	1st	80.85 m

References

1. Anita Włodarczyk's profile at the IAAF site
3. http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=55178.html
4. Turner, Chris (2010-04-24). Wlodarczyk blasts out 75.13m release in Dakar – IAAF World Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-04-25.
5. IAAF
6. Murofushi and Heidler take overall titles and prize of $30,000 each – IAAF World Hammer Throw Challenge. IAAF (2010-09-08). Retrieved on 2010-09-08.
7. Gains, Paul (2012-06-02). Dibaba 30:24.39 and Kiprop 27:01.98 on stunning but wet first night in Eugene – Samsung Diamond League. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-06-03.
8. "Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games: Women's Hammer Throw Final Round | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
9. "2014 European Athletics Championships" (PDF). www.european-athletics.org. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
10. Florian van Dijck (2015-08-01). WOMEN HAMMER OVER 80M!!! WLODARCZYK THROWS WR !!! 81.08m (266′ 0″)
11. Mulkeen, Jon; Mikiel, Marta. "Inspired by Skolimowska, Wlodarczyk aims to become first to throw 80 metres". IAAF.org. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
12. Prezydent.pl

External links

• Anita Włodarczyk profile at IAAF