Wojciech Nowicki in the hammer at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (© Getty Images)
Wojciech Nowicki of Poland looks one of Europe’s strongest hopes for gold given the way he has dominated the men’s hammer this season. He tops the world list with 81.85m, more than 70 centimetres clear of his compatriot, world champion Pawel Fajdek, whom he beat to the European title in Berlin last month.
Europe will be looking for a 1-2 given the presence of Hungary’s Bence Halasz, fourth on this year’s world list with the 79.57m he achieved in Budapest in June.
The obvious threat to European ambitions will come from Asia-Pacific, where Tajikistan’s 36-year-old Dilshod Nazarov, the Olympic champion and 2015 world silver medallist, is still throwing very well indeed, having reached 78.18m this season.
For Africa, Egypt’s Mostafa Al Gamal is ninth on this year’s world list with the 77.71m he threw in Cairo on April 11.
Sean Donnelly of the United States registered a season’s best of 76.96m in Tucson back in May.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
