Nanaimo’s Ethan Katzberg takes gold at first world championships in Budapest

Hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., earned gold at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships.

It was his World’s debut and he is the youngest member on Team Canada at just 21. The Vancouver Island native tossed the hammer 81.25 metres on Sunday, improving upon his Canadian record. Finishing second was Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine with his 78.47m performance. Taking third was Bence Halász of Hungary at 78.13m.

Katzberg told the CBC, “It feels amazing. To become a world champion with a national record on top of that, it’s a very, very good feeling. I’m thrilled.”

What a performance from Ethan Katzberg 🥇 🇨🇦

✅ Personal Best
✅ Canadian Record
✅ World Title @AthleticsCanada pic.twitter.com/nIVpbMgOtn

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 20, 2023

Katzberg’s fifth attempt (of six) put him ahead of Tokyo Olympic Champion Wojciech Nowicki and Bence Halász of Hungary at 80.82 — a season-best.

Canadian shot put record holder Dylan Armstrong with his 22.21m best was on hand, he and Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk are his coaches. The now-retired Armstrong from Kamloops tossed the hammer 71.51m in the early days of his field career. He earned bronze at the Beijing Olympic Games after competitor Belarusian Andrei Mikhnevich was involved in a major doping scandal. He also took silver at the 2011 Daegu World Athletics Championships and bronze at the Moscow World Championships in 2013.

Results

Men’s Hammer Throw Qualification – Saturday, August 19 at 12:00pm local time