Bence Halász Wins Bronze in Hammer Throw at World Championships

World rankings leader Bence Halász won a bronze medal with an excellent performance and a throw of 82.69 meters, while Ármin Szabados finished eighth and Dániel Rába came in 11th in the men’s hammer throw on Tuesday at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

The Olympic silver medalist and two-time World Championships bronze medalist Halász arrived in the Japanese capital as one of the gold medal favorites. He began the year with a personal best of 80.92 meters, but during the summer he consistently threw over 81 meters. At the Gyulai Memorial in August, he achieved a new personal best of 83.18 meters, that was also the world’s best mark this year.

Halász’s confidence in recent months has been fueled not only by his throws over 83 meters but also by the fact that he managed to defeat the previously unbeatable reigning world and Olympic champion, Ethan Katzberg, twice in the past two years.

The battle for gold was widely expected to come down to him and the Canadian athlete. Katzberg delivered a stunning performance, throwing 81.06, 83.03, and 83.78 meters in the last three rounds, and ultimately secured the world title with ease (84.70 meters), just like he did two years ago in Budapest. The silver medal went to Hummel, who achieved a massive personal best of 82.77 meters.

Bence Halász. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt

Halász is proud of the bronze medal he won in Tuesday’s final, though he also feels a sense of incompleteness, as he believes he was capable of an even better result. The Olympic silver medalist began his evaluation on a positive note, emphasizing that while he may not yet be fully satisfied, he is still able to take some joy in the bronze, which he considers a huge accomplishment—especially considering his 82.69-meter throw was the second-best result of his life.

I have now won my third World Championships medal, and my seventh overall at a major international competition. I think that is something to be proud of—and I am. I feel like I represented my country with honor, and I did what I promised I would today. It is just hard to accept that such a result was only enough for this,”

said the 28-year-old athlete to MTI.

He also revealed that he was able to consistently throw over 80 meters even though he did not really “connect well” with any of his throws—not even his best one. That, he said, shows he was in exceptional form and managed to prepare for the World Championships exactly as planned. He added that if they continue on this path, even greater things could happen in the future.

Regarding the competition itself, he highlighted that the big throws from his rivals did not shake him—in fact, each big result only reinforced his belief that he was capable of just as much. “I was capable of that today, and with a bit of luck, it could have been mine,” said Halász, who has now won World Championships bronze medals in Doha (2019), Budapest (2023), and now in Tokyo.

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