Which athlete threw the men’s hammer 86.74 metres for the world record in 1986?

Yuriy Sedykh threw the men’s hammer 86.74 metres for the world record in 1986.

The Soviet thrower set the mark in Stuttgart, West Germany, on 30 August 1986. Sedykh’s record surpassed the previous best and remains the ratified men’s hammer-throw world record. He used the four-turn technique, which he helped popularize at elite level.

Sedykh was also a two-time Olympic champion. He won at Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980, then took silver at Seoul in 1988. His principal rival was Sergey Litvinov, another Soviet thrower who held the world record before Sedykh’s decisive improvement.

The senior men’s hammer weighs 7.26 kilograms and consists of a metal ball attached to a wire and handle. Competitors throw from a circular cage-protected area, and the distance is measured from the circle to the first mark made by the hammer.