He achieved the selection as the top hammer thrower from the highly competitive country of Ukraine during the 2012 season that saw him improve his personal best in the event out to 79.42 m at a meet in Jablonec, Czech Republic, four days after his 46th birthday. At the time, it had been the #2 throw in the world that year. His previous personal best of 77.86 m was set almost 22 years earlier in 1990, when he was the 22nd ranked hammer thrower in the world while competing for the Soviet Union. That mark improved his standing world record in the age group by over 4 metres (13 feet). This was not a fluke throw, throughout the 2012 season Dryhol has had several competitions beyond the 77 meter range. Throughout the 2011 season, Dryhol was also a top ranked hammer thrower, peaking at the 75.27, but gave up his spot to compete in the 2011 IAAF World Championships to Andriy Martynyuk, the 2009 European Junior Champion who was born 15 days after Dryhol had set his personal best to that time.