Anita Wlodarczyk breaks world hammer record for Olympic gold

Anita Wlodarczyk launched the hammer to 82.29m to smash her own world record in Rio on Monday, while Sophie Hitchon broke her own British record for a brilliant bronze.

Ahead of the final Poland’s world champion had indicated that she was looking to go further than ever before and after breaking the Olympic record with 80.40m in the second round, she improved that mark by almost two metres from her next throw to get the gold in style.

The 31-year-old, who claimed silver in London four years ago and won world gold in 2009 and 2015, also followed that up with 81.74m in the fifth round and now has a winning streak of 29 competitions.

Hitchon had moved up into bronze medal position with 73.29m from her second throw but dropped down the field as the competition progressed. However, keeping her cool the Briton unleashed the throw of her life in the final round, launching the hammer to 74.54m to secure a podium place.

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