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Weight Tossed in Indoor Hammer Throw Event Kills Spectator at Track Meet
A heavy weight thrown by a participant at an indoor high school track meet cleared safety barriers and struck and killed a spectator in Colorado Springs on Sunday, the event organizers said.
“A member of the attending audience was killed when a hammer thrown by a participant cleared certified barriers and struck him,” said a statement from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, which hosted the meet at its Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.
The meet was canceled after the incident.
A spokeswoman for the El Paso County coroner’s office said on Monday that it had not performed an autopsy and could not yet release the name of the person who was killed.
The Colorado United Track Club said in an email reported by 11 News and other local news media that the victim was the father of one of its team members.
In the more familiar hammer throw, contested outdoors at events like the Olympics, competitors spin around in a circle to build momentum and then release a heavy ball on a chain, which is known as a hammer.
For safety, the spinning takes place in a cage with an open segment for the hammer to go through when it is released.
At indoor meets like the one in Colorado Springs, the event is normally renamed the weight throw.
The implement is attached to a grip, rather than a chain, and is heavier than the hammer so that it does not travel as far. As in the hammer competition, the thrower is within a cage or netting.
At the Olympic Games, men can throw the hammer well over 200 feet. High school boys typically throw a 25-pound weight indoors, but they can still throw it quite a distance: The record for that age group is currently more than 90 feet.
Hammer and other throwing events can be dangerous, and cases of injury to competitors, officials and spectators are not rare.
As recently as September, a teenager was critically injured by a hammer at a meet in Australia.
Javelins can be thrown even farther than hammers, and their sharp tips also contribute to the danger. Even at the sport’s highest levels, disaster can occur.
In 2008, at the Golden League in Rome, the top level of the professional sport, a javelin thrown by an elite athlete struck a long jumper, Salim Sdiri of France, causing severe internal injuries.
In a tragic turn of events at a track meet, a spectator was killed by a weight tossed in the indoor hammer throw event. The incident occurred during a competition when the weight, which can weigh up to 35 pounds, flew out of the designated throwing area and struck a spectator in the stands.
Emergency services were immediately called to the scene, but unfortunately, the spectator succumbed to their injuries. The athlete involved in the throw was said to be devastated by the accident and is cooperating with authorities in the investigation.
This heartbreaking incident serves as a stark reminder of the dangers present in track and field events, even for spectators. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim during this difficult time. Safety measures and precautions must be strictly enforced to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.
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- Weight toss incident
- Spectator killed at track event
- Hammer throw safety
- Indoor track meet accident
- Weight throw mishap
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- Indoor sports tragedy
- Hammer throw event fatality
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