The hammer final was very much Jake Norris&rsquo;s to lose after his two principal rivals &ndash; including world U20 leader Christos Frantzeskakis from Greece&nbsp;&ndash; exited in qualifying and the Brit duly lived up to expectations in his last major competition throwing with the 6kg implement at the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018.
Norris has been more accustomed to competing with the senior implement this season but the Brit performed excellently with the lighter implement, bowing out with both the gold medal &ndash; Britain&rsquo;s first medal in a men&rsquo;s throwing event since 1998&nbsp;&ndash; and an improvement on his British U20 record.
Norris started his competition tentatively, opening his series with a no-throw followed by a valid mark of 73.18m to make the cut but the 19-year-old went all out with his third attempt, taking the lead with 78.17m before extending it further with a British U20 record of 80.65m on his fourth. With the gold medal ensured, Norris almost matched that mark with a celebratory sixth round throw of 80.55m.
The Ukrainian challenge also took time to come to life but Myhaylo Kokhan eventually found his range with his fifth throw. He recorded one valid throw from his first four efforts &ndash; including two which hit the turf at about 78 metres albeit on the wrong side of the sector&nbsp;&ndash; but the 17-year-old got it right on his fifth attempt, moving into silver medal position with a lifetime best of 79.68m.
This was his second major medal in less than a week after winning the European U18 title in Gyor on Saturday (7) with a world U18 best of 87.82m. He will be looking to further embellish his medal collection at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires later this year.
Kokhan didn&rsquo;t improve with his final effort but his teammate Myhaylo Havrylyuk&nbsp;&ndash; the older of the two Ukrainians competing in the final&nbsp;&ndash; displaced Sweden&rsquo;s Ragnar Carlsson from the bronze medal position with his final round throw of 77.71m by nine centimetres.
Mercifully the conditions remained dry and benign for the entirety of the final. The top five throwers all set lifetime bests with the top five rounded out by France&rsquo;s Hugo Tavernier, the younger brother of 2015 world bronze medallist Alexandra, who also improved his best ever mark to 75.99m.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

Report: men’s hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

Report: men’s hammer throw – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

There could be a rare head-to-head between Greece and Great Britain for the hammer title in Tampere as Hristos Frantzeskakis and Jake Norris share the five best marks at U20 level in 2018 with the 6kg implement.
Frantzeskakis leads the world U20 lists with 81.32m to Norris&rsquo; 80.45m although the latter has been throwing more regularly with the senior implement on the US collegiate circuit, capping his season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships with 73.24m.
Norris has retained this level since the demanding series of competitions in the build-up to the NCAA Championships, winning the prestigious Mannheim Junior Gala at the end of June with 80.28m &ndash; just short of his British U20 record of 80.45m with the 6kg implement.
Ukraine also has two fine prospects in the event who will both be competing in Tampere: Myhaylo Havrylyuk and Myhaylo Kokhan. Not only do they share the same first name, they almost share identical lifetime bests standing at 77.20m and 77.19m respectively.
Havrylyuk won the European U18 title in Tbilisi in 2016 while Kokhan, who is the second youngest entrant in this event, is the world U18 champion. He is still eligible for U18 events and will be targeting the Youth Olympic Games after this competition.
Cuba&rsquo;s Miguel Angel Zamora has also been in good form with two competitions in excess of the 78-metre line. India&rsquo;s Ashish Jakhar, who didn&rsquo;t make it through qualifying in 2016, arrives fresh from retaining his Asian U20 title &ndash; and extending his Indian U20 record to 76.86m.
The reigning champion is Hungary&rsquo;s Bence Halasz who has already established himself at the top end in the senior ranks at the age of 20. He recently improved his lifetime best to 79.57m with the senior 7.26kg implement.
Steven Mills for the IAAF

There could be a rare head-to-head between Greece and Great Britain for the hammer title in Tampere as Hristos Frantzeskakis and Jake Norris share the five best marks at U20 level in 2018 with the 6kg implement.

Preview: men’s hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

Hungary&rsquo;s Bence Halasz had been widely expected to deliver a first world U20 hammer throw title for his nation in Bydgoszcz, and on a mild evening in the Polish city on Friday (22), he delivered in fine style.
The 18-year-old had dominated the event throughout the year, holding the six longest throws in the world by an U20 athlete. However, when he took to the throwing circle for his first effort, he briefly seemed a shadow of his former self. His first effort was a modest 73.12m, which left him languishing in fourth position.
The lead had been taken in commanding fashion by Ukraine&rsquo;s Hlib Piskunov, who unleashed a throw of 78.77m in the opening round, before adding to his advantage in the second round with 79.58m, a lifetime best.
That heaped the pressure on Halasz, who at that stage was struggling to find the rhythm that had carried him to the European junior title last year. However, he launched a throw of 78.74m in the second round, which moved him up to second.
Piskunov fouled his third attempt, a missed opportunity he was left to rue as Halasz entered the circle and produced a whopping throw of 80.93m.
Given that no one in the field had ever produced a throw of that length, it was clear there and then that Hungary had just claimed its first men&rsquo;s hammer throw title. Halasz drew gasps from the crowd on his fourth and final attempt, hurling the sphere well past the 80-metre line &ndash; somewhere around the 82-metre region &ndash; but the throw was deemed a foul.
Piskunov could muster no more in the final round, his best of 79.58m securing him silver.
The bronze medal went to Finland&rsquo;s Aleksi Jaakola, whose second-round effort of 77.88m was enough to hold off Hungary&rsquo;s Daniel Raba, who had a best of 76.71m in fourth. Jaakola had been expected to contend for the title, having thrown a Finnish U20 record of 80.54m this year, but he could not reproduce his best when it mattered most.
Spain&rsquo;s Alberto Gonzalez broke new ground in fifth place, his first-round effort of 75.52m a lifetime best, while Egypt&rsquo;s Ahmed Tarik Ismail had to make do with sixth after a best throw&nbsp;of 74.42m.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

Hungary’s Bence Halasz had been widely expected to deliver a first world U20 hammer throw title for his nation in Bydgoszcz, and on a mild evening in the Polish city on Friday (22), he delivered in fine style. 

Report: men's hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016

With the six longest throws in the world by an U20 athlete this year, Hungary&rsquo;s Bence Halasz looks poised to add the world U20 crown to the European title he won in this age category last year.
Despite their proud tradition in the throws, Hungary has never taken this title in the 16 editions of this championships, but that run may be set to end when Halasz takes to the throwing circle next week.
The 18-year-old set a Hungarian U20 record of 81.76m in Szombathely back in May and then extended it to 82.64m last month. If he reproduces the same in Bydgoszcz, he could be celebrating gold next Friday evening.
Finland&rsquo;s Aleksi Jaakkola is the only one of his rivals to surpass the 80-metre barrier this year, throwing a national U20 record of 80.54m in Nokia in April. He reproduced medal-winning form in recent weeks with a throw of 78.67m in Nurmijarvi and should present the strongest challenge to Halasz. Jaakkola&rsquo;s teammate Aaron Kangas has a best of 78.10m, a repeat of which may be enough to get him a spot on the podium.
The African challenge is led by Egypt&rsquo;s Ahmed Tarek Ismail, who has added four metres to his best this year, his longest throw of 78.62m coming on foreign soil in Szombathely, Hungary a fortnight ago.
Ukraine&rsquo;s Hlib Pisnukov, who threw a PB of 79.16m on home soil in Kirovohrad last month, should also be in contention, while Daniel Raba of Hungary, who has a best of 77.76m this year, is another who will be eyeing up a podium finish.
The US challenge is led by Robert Colantonio Jr, whose best throw of 74.12m was produced to win at the US Junior Championships in Clovis, California last month.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

With the six longest throws in the world by an U20 athlete this year, Hungary’s Bence Halasz looks poised to add the world U20 crown to the European title he won in this age category last year.

Preview: men's hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016

Ashraf Amgad Elseify became the first athlete to successfully defend his title at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 as the Qatari dominated the hammer final with a world-leading mark of 84.71m, just under a metre shy of his world junior record of 85.57m set two years ago when winning at Barcelona 2012. Elseify led from the opening round with his initial effort of 81.82m and extended it with his second effort of 84.51m. The only athlete to throw farther than 80 meters today, Elseify sealed his dominating victory with a world-leading 84.71m in the fifth round. He also became the first male hammer thrower to win two consecutive world titles. To celebrate, the athletic Elseify did back flips on the back straight while doing his lap of honour. Bence Pasztor secured silver behind Elseify just as he did in 2012 – the first time in the history of the championships that both the gold and silver medallists have been repeated at two consecutive editions – with his opening 79.14m and ended the competition with 79.99m. Russia’s Ilya Terentyev’s only valid throw, 76.31m in the second round, was enough to earn the bronze medal.Shot put silver medallist one day earlier, the Netherlands’ Denzel Comenentia could not come close to the podium this time around and finished 11th with 68.35m while world youth champion Matija Greguric of Croatia was fifth with 75.71m.Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

Ashraf Amgad Elseify became the first athlete to successfully defend his title at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014, in Eugene as the Qatari dominated the hammer final with a world-leading mark of 84.71m, just under a metre shy of his world junior record of 85.57m set two years ago when winning at Barcelona 2012.

Report: men's hammer throw – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014

World junior record-holder and world leader Ashraf Amjad Al-Saifi wants to become the first man to win back-to-back world junior titles in the hammer.The Qatari, who has thrown 84.66m this year, will encounter his closest rival from two years ago, Hungary’s Bence Pasztor, the other athlete to have thrown farther than 80 metres this year.Croatia’s world youth champion Matija Greguric, Hungary’s Bence Halasz, Iceland’s Hilmar Orn Jonsson, Russia’s Ilya Terentyev and Argentina’s Joaquin Gomez will also be in hot contention for the medals.Third at the 2013 World Youth Championships, Australia’s Matt Deny will also double in the discus.Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF

World junior record-holder and world leader Ashraf Amjad Al-Saifi wants to become the first man to win back-to-back world junior titles in the hammer.

Report: men’s hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

Preview: men’s hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018

Report: men's hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016

Preview: men's hammer – IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016

Report: men's hammer throw – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014

Men’s hammer preview – IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014