All-American Nick Welihozkiy was runner-up at the 2003 Pac-10 Championships with a personal-best throw of 221 feet, 1 inch. Now, the senior political science major and sole hammer thrower on the men’s track and field team is wrapping up his collegiate career and looking toward the 2008 Summer Olympics.
They usually cut to commercial during his event. Welihozkiy says people often confuse the hammer with the other throwing events. Think of the hammer as a shot put on a metal leash. To get the ball going, the thrower rotates it in front of him like the hands on a clock. He then spins around using a counter-clockwise heel-toe turn—Welihozkiy prefers four rotations—and lets go.
So, he woke up one day and wanted to throw things? Growing up in Springfield, Va., Welihozkiy wanted to be a basketball player. But on weekends he would toss the discus with his dad (a former thrower), and he joined the high school track team. Hammer training started with Dad teaching him to “walk the baby”—swinging the hammer around as an adult would spin a child by her arms. When he qualified for high school nationals at his first meet, Welihozkiy knew he had found his event. “When you hit a great throw, it’s euphoric.”
Hammer time. In season, Welihozkiy practices from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. most days of the week. “Monday I threw a light ball and then I lifted [weights]. Tuesday I did drills. Just drills, but they’re heavy. You’re trying to hold your angles, holding your technique. Wednesday I threw the 35-pound weight for speed and distance to see what my body is doing under a load. Today I’m going to take off. I’ll just stretch. I haven’t just sat down on my couch and watched TV in a while.”
A good thrower screams barbarically. By the fourth spin of a throw, centrifugal force turns Welihozkiy’s 16-pound ball into a beast weighing several hundred pounds and traveling at highway speed. At the moment of launch, his legs straighten, his arms lift up, and “air comes out,” he says. “Even if you try not to scream, it’ll still come out as like ‘ooh-uuhh!’ So you just kind of go with it.”
Beyond Wheaties. Welihozkiy eats healthily—and cleans out the dining hall. Take dinner: “I’ll get four chicken breasts. So I’m basically eating a whole chicken like it’s no problem. Then I’ll have a plate of spaghetti and a plate of salad. Then I’ll have a glass of milk and a glass of water and then maybe a glass of Gatorade to get the electrolytes back in my system so my muscles can recover. And I take my multivitamins.”
Weapon of mass destruction. What used to be an airplane carry-on is now considered “heavy and dangerous.” Welihozkiy usually has to explain his gear to U.S. airport security. In Europe, where track and field is more popular, “they go, ‘Wow! You throw the hammer, that is so great!’ ”
For the record, you only get dizzy if you do 55 spins in a row. “The ball is going around, but I actually think about moving forward,” Welihozkiy explains. Besides, practice makes perfect, or at least kills off vertiginous sensation. “I fried those brain cells about five years ago.”
