Mikhail Krivonosov – da:olympedia.org
Article by Giovanni Manenti
Beyond the easy, not to say obvious, irony regarding the comparison with one of the symbols of Communism, the fact remains unavoidable that, of the various specialties of Athletics, that of the Hammer Throw represents a terrain of undisputed dominion of the Soviet representatives…
As further confirmation of this, it still exists today the only one which, in the men’s field, sees the relative world record – 86.74 m achieved by Yuryi Sedykh on 30 August 1986 at the European Championships in Stuttgart – still held by an athlete from the former USSR, with Soviet throwers establishing this record on 15 occasions since the late 1960s.
country that, between the Melbourne 1956 and Barcelona 1992 editions, he also won on 7 occasions out of 9 participations (obviously excluding the 1984 Los Angeles Games…) the Olympic Gold Medal – and in the other two circumstances he obtained two silvers and a bronze – also managing to monopolize the podium in four events, namely Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992, with this latest edition to see you rise Andrey Abduvaliyev, Igor Astapkovich and Igor Nikulinrepresenting the Commonwealth of Independent States.
But, the most famous interpreters of this specialty undoubtedly remain the various ones Romuald Klim, Anatoly Bondarchuk, Sergey Litvinov and Juri Tamm, among others, quoted Sedykhwe must also remember the one who acted as “trailblazer” to this group of future Champions, protagonists of our history today…
Nato on May 1, 1929 in Krychaw, a city of just over 20 thousand souls located in present-day Belarus, Mikhail Krivonosov rose to international prominence for the first time during 1952, when he was selected, together with his compatriots Georgy Dybenko and Mykola Redkin, to take part in the Helsinki GamesDebut demonstration of the Soviet Union in the Olympic Panorama.
On the platforms of the “Olympic Stadium” of the Finnish capital, the qualification limit set at just 49 meters – with the world record of 59.88 m held by the Hungarian Imre Nemeth – means that 25 athletes reach the Final and, for the first and only time in the history of the Games, no Soviet manages to win medalsa, with Krivonosov even committing three null throws…
A bitter experience from which the 23-year-old Mikhail quickly redeems himself, that is throwing the tool beyond the “60 meter barrier” with a throw of 60.51 m obtained on 13 October 1952 in Tashkenta measurement which, if obtained in Helsinki, would have earned him Gold and related world record which, in the meantime, had become the prerogative of the Norwegian Sverre Strandli, European Champion in 1950 in Brussels and only seventh at the Games.
This result allows Krivonosov to be included in the “Top Ten” of the end of the season of the Ranking drawn up by the prestigious US magazine “Track & Field News“, placing himself in fifth position, and then, after having risen to third place the following year – despite having had a throw of m.59.97 as his best performance of the season – performing the expected “breakthrough” in 1954…
With the key event consisting of European Championships scheduled in Bern in the last week of August, the Hammer Throw competition has the same value as an Olympic Final, given that they are registered the Hungarian Gold Medalist in Helsinki Jozsef Csermak – who on that occasion had set the world record with m.60.34 – the previous record holder Nemeth and the current record holder and reigning continental champion, Strandliwhich at the beginning of September 1953 had further improved his own limit, throwing the tool to 62.36 m.
And “King’s Parterre“very respectable, therefore, with the clear feeling that it will be necessary to go beyond 60 meters if you want to aspire to the podium, but Krivonosov”exaggerates a little” putting everyone in agreement with a best throw of m.63.34 almost a meter more than the Norwegian’s record who, for his part, still managed to get the silver with m.61.07 relegating the Olympic champion Csermak to the lowest step…
This feat allows the 25-year-old Belarusian to climb to the top of the year-end ranking, also confirmed in the following season in which he improved his lead on two occasions – after his compatriot Stanislav Nenashev had temporarily taken it away from him with a throw of 64.05 m in mid-December 1954 – that is, by throwing the tool first at 64.33 m at the beginning of August 1955 in Warsaw and then at 64.52 m in mid-September in Belgrade.
Absolute master of the specialty, Krivonosov seems to have no rivals in view of the Olympic event at the end of November 1956 in Melbourne, above all by virtue of having confirmed this superiority by improving his own records several times during the season, first with m.65.85 obtained on 25 April 1956 in Nalchik, and then throwing the tool at m.66.38 at the beginning of July in Minsk and then accomplish the feat of achieving this on two occasions during the same meeting on 22 October in Tashkent, with a first throw of 66.85 m and the second of even 67.32 m.
No other specialist from the Old Continent is even remotely able to come close to these measures and, to support the now 27-year-old Belarusian’s predictions of victory at the Games, there are also the news coming from overseas, where at the US Trials at the end of June in Los Angeles the two best qualifiers are Albert Hall and Hal Connelly with m.60.24 and m.60.03 respectively…
In, and “disturb sleep” by Krivonosov arrives, most unexpectedly, the feat accomplished on November 2 in Los Angeles – that is, three weeks before the Games – by Connolly having improved the absolute record with the measurement of m.68.54 so as to put forward his candidacy for the top step of the podium himself.
Whether or not it was an episodic exploit, the platforms of the “Melbourne Cricket Ground” of the Australian Metropolis, where the race took place on the same day of November 24, 1956, with qualifications in the morning and Final in the afternoon, starting from 2.30 pm local time …
With the qualifiers there were no surprises whatsoever and 14 athletes to exceed the limit of 54.00 m established by the IOCduring the Final the previous Olympic Record – established, as already reported, with m.60.34 by Csermach on the occasion of the success in Helsinki and which, at the time, was also a world record – is repeatedly improved, with the first sharp one going to the Soviet Anatoly Samotsvetov with m. 62.10 at the entrance test, and then Krivonosov’s turn to throw to m.63.00 on the second attempt and then improve to m.63.03 on the thirdseries in which Connolly roars throwing the hammer to m.62,65 for a provisional second position…
Ranking that does not change in the fourth series of throws, and then it is the American’s turn to score the “knockout blow” con m.63.19 measure to which Krivonosov tries to replicate by forcing the throws only to obtain two nulls from the platform which give Connolly Gold and Olympic Recordwith the two Soviets in the places of honor and Samotsvetov seeing his bronze threatened by Hall’s last attempt, whose tool stops at m.61.96 while the reigning champion Csermach finishes no better than fifth with m. 60.70.
In all likelihood, it was the Soviet who penalized the location of the Olympics at the end of November as Melbourne is in the southern hemisphere compared to what had happened up until then with the Games being held in the months of July/August, but we know that even in sport, as in life, that “pinch of good luck” which never hurts.
Got out anyway in second place in the year-end ranking behind Connolly, Krivonosov regained the top spot at the end of the following season, in which he obtained a personal best result of m.66.70 so as to present himself at the Continental Review in mid-August 1958 in Stockholm, fully intending to repeat the title from four years earlier in Bern.
Despite the now 29 year old Belarusian had thrown at m.66.80 on May 11th Nalchikon the platforms of the “Olympic Stadium” of the Swedish capital does not go beyond 63.78 m sufficient to precede “the rising star” Hungarian Gyula Zsivotzky – which we have already discussed – but not to conquer the highest step of the podium, conversely the prerogative of the 26-year-old Polish Tadeusz Rut, who won with the measurement of 64.78 m.
Con Connolly, vice versa, improved on the other side of the ocean, bringing the world record first to m.68.68 on 20 June 1958 and then to m.70.33 on 12 August 1960 in WalnutKrivonosov was unable to repeat himself in the following two years at the levels of previous seasons, thus putting an end to his competitive activity in 1960 having failed to obtain selection for his third Olympics at the 1960 Rome Games…
Nonetheless, the “pioneer of the Hammer Throw” Soviet remains in the sports field as a coach and teacher at the Belarusian State University of Physical Education and, on the occasion of the Olympics in Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972, he was part of the coaching staff of the Soviet national team …
A fair recognition for those who have been able to show the way to their much more medal-winning successors…
2024-04-14 17:32:09
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