University of Georgia Athletics
Hammer Throwers Among Nation's Elite
April 10, 2015 | Track & Field
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Alex Poursanidis and Shelby Ashe are hammer throwers -- very good hammer throwers -- for the University of Georgia. They're both going for their second straight win this weekend at the Spec Towns National Team Invitational.
He's from the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus and she's from Stone Mountain, Ga. He has high-level international experience, as does she. He has Olympic dreams, as does she.
In the beginning, neither sought out this ancient track and field event that has roots that go as far back as 2000 B.C.
There aren't many places in the world where kids throw the hammer like they shoot hoops or kick a soccer ball around, so it's no surprise that the hammer wasn't their first athletic endeavor. A coach saw something in them -- in their build and athleticism -- and directed them toward one of track and field's most compelling events.
And they took to it quickly.
A high school shot put and discus thrower, Ashe said a club coach sent her in the direction of the hammer.
"He said, `you're way too short to be a good shot putter, but I can make you into a really good hammer thrower,'" Ashe said. "And so I've thrown hammer just about every day since then."
And thrown it well. While also excelling in the shot put in high school (take that, coach), Ashe won the USA Junior national championship as a junior, senior and in the year she took off from school while preparing for the World Junior Championships and the 2012 Olympic Trials.
Last week, Ashe, a junior that began her collegiate career at California, threw the hammer 211 feet, 8 inches, to win the Florida Relays. It was the fourth-longest throw nationally this year and the fourth longest in school history.
Poursanidis, a sophomore from Paphos, Cyprus, also won at the Florida Relays. His hammer throw of 229-11 was the nation's second-longest of the year. He said he was 13 or 14 when he got started. As competitors get older, they weight of the hammer is increased, so there are adjustments to be made each year.
"Hammer throw is a very complicated event," he said. "It's very technical, it's very hard and you have to get used to it. I got used to it and was comfortable in, like, four years."
Four years seems like forever. But if you've ever watched an elite thrower compete, ever seen the power and momentum they generate as they spin around the throwing circle, the hammer swinging out in front of them, you'd appreciate the time it took to control what essentially appears to be a medieval weapon.
The legend is that the hammer throw's beginnings were in Ireland around 2000 B.C. It's known for certain that the sport has been around for centuries in Great Britain. In the Scottish Highland Games -- which Ashe said she attended before she ever got started in the hammer -- the hammer (heavy metal ball) is at the end of a length of wood, which is swung around and heaved, which a mighty roar, no doubt.
In collegiate and Olympic competition, the men's hammer weights 7.257 kilograms (16 pounds) and with the attached wire is a length of just shy of 4 feet. The women's hammer is 4 kg (8.82 pounds) and is basically the same length as the men's.
From the outside looking in, the hammer looks like a dangerous sport. Not for the competitor, mind you, but for people within range of the throw.
Poursanidis seemed confused by this thought, saying that growing up there wasn't even the C-shaped cage around the throwing circle. Ashe said she often worries about the officials that measure the throws, because they get awful close to that heavy metal ball hurtling toward them.
"We're the ones throwing it, so we're not going to get hurt," she said. "We're going to be fine, but the people on the other side, you're heart rate gets up a little bit."
Errant throws are inevitable, that's why the cage is there, but experience and ability can get you into that sweet spot.
"People ask me sometimes, how do you know when to release it? You just feel it," Poursanidis said
Of course, it takes a lot of throws to develop that feeling. Both Ashe and Poursanidis said there's nothing quite like that A-plus, perfect throw.
"Even that feeling takes a long time to develop, and for me, I can feel it through the whole throw," Ashe said, smiling in appreciation of those magical moments. "If it's a good throw, I can feel it almost directly off the wind, and at that point you've got to be just like, don't mess it up, don't mess it up.
"That feeling in itself takes a long time to develop, and then you have to learn how to duplicate it. Because who cares if you can do it once, especially if that once is in practice. You want to be able to it over and over again."
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
