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Anita Włodarczyk
AnitaWRio2016 cropped.jpg
Anita Włodarczyk in 2016 Rio Olympics
Personal information
Born (1985-08-08) 8 August 1985 (age 39)
Rawicz, Poland
Height 1.76 m
Weight 100 kg
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Hammer throw
Club Skra Warszawa
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Poland
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 3 0 0
World Championships 4 0 0
European Championships 4 1 1
Continental Cup 1 0 0
European Team Championships 2 1 0
Olympic Games
Olympic rings.svg
Gold 2012 London Hammer throw
Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Hammer throw
Gold 2020 Tokyo Hammer throw
World Championships
Gold 2009 Berlin Hammer throw
Gold 2013 Moscow Hammer throw
Gold 2015 Beijing Hammer throw
Gold 2017 London Hammer throw
European Championships
Gold 2012 Helsinki Hammer throw
Gold 2014 Zürich Hammer throw
Gold 2016 Amsterdam Hammer throw
Gold 2018 Berlin Hammer throw
Silver 2024 Rome Hammer throw
Bronze 2010 Barcelona Hammer throw
European Team Championships
Gold 2009 Leiria Hammer throw
Gold 2015 Cheboksary Hammer throw
Silver 2013 Gateshead Hammer throw
Continental Cup
Gold 2014 Marrakech Hammer throw
European Cup Winter Throwing
Gold 2008 Split Hammer throws
Gold 2009 Split Hammer throw
Jeux de la Francophonie
Gold 2013 Nice Hammer throw

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.

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.

Włodarczyk Kopron London 2017
Włodarczyk (on the left) celebrating her gold medal of 2017 World Championships with teammate and bronze medalist Malwina Kopron.

Career

Early life and competition

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 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

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). Her season ended prematurely when she twisted her left ankle during her celebration. 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. 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. 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. She finished outside of the medals at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, coming fifth overall.

Olympic Games and further successes

In 2012, Włodarczyk finished third at the Ostrava Golden Spike and was the runner-up at the Prefontaine Classic. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she won the silver medal with a throw of 77.60 m. 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.

In 2014, Włodarczyk won the European Championship with a throw of 78.76, which was a championship and national record.

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). 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). 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.

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.

As of 2020, she holds all of the top 15 women's hammer throw results and 27 out of the top 30.

Third consecutive Olympic gold medal

At 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

Some of the selected awards and honours she received for her sports achievements include:

  • Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2009 Knight's Cross
  • Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2016 Officer's Corss
  • Polish Sports Personality of the Year awarded by the Przegląd Sportowy magazine, 2016
  • Honorary Citizen of the town of Rawicz, 2016
  • Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 2021 Commander's Cross with Star
  • 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.

International competitions

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 World Record Championships Record
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 Championships Record
Continental Cup Marrakesh, Morocco 1st 75.21 m
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 1st 80.85 m Championships Record
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 1st 78.14 m
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st 82.29 m World Record OR Championships Record
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 Championships Record
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

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anita Włodarczyk para niños

  • Sport in Poland
  • List of Polish records in athletics
  • List of Polish track and field athletes
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