# IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge

The IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge was an annual hammer throw series, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 2010 until the end of 2019 season. The series of hammer throw competitions for men and women were primary held at meetings with IAAF World Challenge status. The rankings were decided by combining the total (in metres) of each athlete's three greatest throws at the permit events during the season. Further points could be gained by those who broke or equalled the world record mark for the event.
The competition's creation was a result of the IAAF Golden League being replaced by the IAAF Diamond League in 2010 – hammer throw was the sole track and field event not to feature on the new top level circuit. The challenge was designed to allow hammer throwers to compete in a global seasonal competition, similar to that found for other track and field events on the Diamond League. In 2020, World Athletics launched the World Continental Tour including hammer throw competitions.
The total prize money available in 2010 was US$202,000, split evenly between male and female athletes. The male and female winners each received $30,000, while second and third placed athletes were entitled to $20,000 and $14,000 respectively. Increasingly smaller prizes were given to the remaining throwers who rank in the top twelve. The eleven meetings which had permit status in 2010 offered either a men's contest, a women's contest, or both – an arrangement which gave athletes of each sex a total of seven opportunities to score points for the challenge.
The most successful athlete of the series was Poland's Anita Włodarczyk, who won the women's title six times straight from 2013 to 2018. Her compatriot Paweł Fajdek was the most successful man, with five victories. Germany's Betty Heidler and Hungarian Krisztián Pars have each won the title on three occasions. Fajdek holds the men's series record score of 248.48 metres while Włodarczyk is the women's series record holder with 240.44 metres.

## Editions

IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge editions :
| Ed. | Year | Start date | End date | Meets |
| 1 | 2010 | 24 April | 1 September | 11 |
| 2 | 2011 | 8 May | 13 September | 9 |
| 3 | 2012 | 6 May | 9 September | 8 |
| 4 | 2013 | 5 May | 8 September | 15 |
| 5 | 2014 | 11 May | 7 September | 13 |
| 6 | 2015 | 21 March | 13 September | 14 |
| 7 | 2016 | 5 March | 19 August | 11 |
| 8 | 2017 | 21 May | 11 August | 9 |
| 9 | 2018 | 19 May | 22 August | 10 |
| 10 | 2019 | 28 April | 2 October | 10 |

## Meetings

Key:
* M : Men
* W : Men
* B : Both
IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge meetings :
| # | Meeting | Arena | City | Country | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 1 | IAAF World Challenge Dakar | Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor | Dakar | Senegal | W | W | | W | | W | B | | | |
| 2 | Golden Grand Prix Osaka | Yanmar Stadium Nagai | Osaka | Japan | M | M | M | M | W | W | | W | M | W |
| 3 | Colorful Daegu Championships Meeting | Daegu Stadium | Daegu | South Korea | W | W | W | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo | Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | B | B | B | | | | W | W | M | M |
| 5 | Golden Spike Ostrava | Městský stadion | Ostrava | Czech Republic | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | W |
| 6 | Fanny Blankers-Koen Games | Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion | Hengelo | Netherlands | M | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Paavo Nurmi Games | Paavo Nurmi Stadium | Turku | Finland | | | | | M | M | M | M | M | W |
| 8 | Brothers Znamensky Memorial | Meteor Stadium | Zhukovsky | Russia | W | B | | | | B | | | | |
| 9 | Gyulai István Memorial | Bregyó közi Regionális Atlétika Központ | Székesfehérvár | Hungary | | | | M | B | B | B | W | W | B |
| 10 | Meeting de Atletismo Madrid | Centro Deportivo Moratalaz | Madrid | Spain | M | M | M | | M | | | M | W | |
| 11 | ISTAF Berlin | Olympiastadion | Berlin | Germany | W | | W | W | W | W | | | | |
| 12 | Rieti Meeting | Stadio Raul Guidobaldi | Rieti | Italy | B | B | B | B | M | M | | | | |
| 13 | Hanžeković Memorial | Sportski Park Mladost | Zagreb | Croatia | M | M | M | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo | Estadio Francisco Montaner | Ponce | Puerto Rico | | | | M | B | | | | | |
| 15 | IAAF World Challenge Beijing | Beijing National Stadium | Beijing | China | | | | W | W | W | W | | | |
| 16 | Prefontaine Classic | Hayward Field | Eugene | United States | | | | W | | | M | | | |
| 17 | Moscow Challenge | Luzhniki Stadium | Moscow | Russia | | | | W | B | | | | | |
| 18 | Janusz Kusociński Memorial | City Athletics Stadium | Szczecin | Poland | | | | B | M | B | B | B | B | B |
| 19 | Karlstad Grand Prix | Tingvalla IP | Karlstad | Sweden | | | | M | M | M | | | | |
| 20 | World Championships | Varies | Varies | Varies | | | | B | | B | | B | | B |
| 21 | Rabat Meeting | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium | Rabat | Morocco | | | | | W | M | | | | |
| 22 | Melbourne Track Classic | Lakeside Stadium | Melbourne | Australia | | | | | | M | M | | | |
| 23 | Jamaica International Invitational | Independence Park | Kingston | Jamaica | | | | | | | W | | W | |
| 24 | Olympic Games | Varies | Varies | Varies | | | | | | | B | | | |
| 25 | PTS Meeting Šamorín | x-bionic sphere | Šamorín | Slovakia | | | | | | | | B | M | |
| 26 | Kamila Skolimowska Memorial | Silesian Stadium | Chorzów | Poland | | | | | | | | | W | |
| 27 | Nanjing World Challenge | Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre | Nanjing | China | | | | | | | | | | W |
| 28 | European Athletics Festival Bydgoszcz | Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium | Bydgoszcz | Poland | | | | | | | | | | M |
| 29 | Pál Németh Memorial | IAAF Training Centre | Szombathely | Hungary | | | | | | | | | | B |
* The Osaka meet was held at the Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium in Kawasaki, Kanagawa in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017, and was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo in 2013 and 2014
* The 2013 Gyulai István Memorial was held in Budapest
* The 2014 Rabat meeting was held in Marrakesh
* The Brazilian meet was held at the Arena Caixa Atletismo in São Bernardo do Campo in 2016 and 2017, and at the National Training Centre in Bragança Paulista in 2018 and 2019
* The 2018 and 2019 Janusz Kusociński Memorial was held at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów

## Medalists
### Men

| Year | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 2010 | Koji Murofushi Japan (JPN) | 238.52 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 236.02 | Libor Charfreitag Slovakia (SVK) | 235.26 |
| 2011 | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 239.03 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 235.72 | Primož Kozmus Slovenia (SLO) | 233.90 |
| 2012 | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 242.35 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 236.47 | Aleksey Sokirskiy Ukraine (UKR) | 233.39 |
| 2013 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 244.23 | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 244.17 | Lukáš Melich Czech Republic (CZE) | 239.80 |
| 2014 | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 244.84 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 241.49 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 241.37 |
| 2015 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 248.01 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 236.20 | Krisztián Pars Hungary (HUN) | 234.75 |
| 2016 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 242.89 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 236.37 | Wojciech Nowicki Poland (POL) | 232.63 |
| 2017 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 248.48 | Wojciech Nowicki Poland (POL) | 236.32 | Dilshod Nazarov Tajikistan (TJK) | 231.40 |
| 2018 | Wojciech Nowicki Poland (POL) | 241.89 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 240.04 | Bence Halász Hungary (HUN) | 232.46 |
| 2019 | Paweł Fajdek Poland (POL) | 241.86 | Wojciech Nowicki Poland (POL) | 237.47 | Bence Halász Hungary (HUN) | 234.99 |

### Women

| Year | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 2010 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 225.88 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 225.30 | Tatyana Lysenko Russia (RUS) | 223.96 |
| 2011 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 228.09 | Yipsi Moreno Cuba (CUB) | 220.46 | Kathrin Klaas Germany (GER) | 219.77 |
| 2012 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 230.49 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 223.13 | Tatyana Lysenko Russia (RUS) | 222.05 |
| 2013 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 233.83 | Tatyana Lysenko Russia (RUS) | 227.59 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 226.93 |
| 2014 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 232.52 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 228.54 | Kathrin Klaas Germany (GER) | 222.65 |
| 2015 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 235.28 | Betty Heidler Germany (GER) | 222.28 | Martina Hrašnová Slovakia (SVK) | 222.20 |
| 2016 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 240.44 | Sophie Hitchon Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 218.11 | Zalina Petrivskaya Moldova (MDA) | 217.80 |
| 2017 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 235.62 | Wang Zheng China (CHN) | 225.77 | Hanna Skydan Azerbaijan (AZE) | 221.75 |
| 2018 | Anita Włodarczyk Poland (POL) | 228.12 | Gwen Berry United States (USA) | 223.31 | Joanna Fiodorow Poland (POL) | 222.03 |
| 2019 | DeAnna Price United States (USA) | 226.55 | Wang Zheng China (CHN) | 226.34 | Joanna Fiodorow Poland (POL) | 224.46 |