On the first day of competition, Kozmus was the first to pass the automatic qualifying mark of 77.50 m. Pars had the best effort of the day with 78.68 m, while former world champion Ziółkowski led group A with a throw of 77.89 m. Aspiring medallists Sokolov, Shayunov and Karjalainen all failed to progress to the final of the competition.[2] On the final day of the hammer throw, the favourite Kozmus delivered a best of 80.15 m to take the gold medal, Slovenia's first ever in the World Championships.[3] Ziółkowski's 79.30 m, the best of his season, was enough to take the silver – his first medal at a major championships since 2005. The level of the competition, however, failed to live up to expectations: the world-leader Pars started poorly and, after a number of fouls, he never regained ground and finished in fourth place. Furthermore, the performance of bronze medallist Zagornyi (78.09) was the shortest-ever distance of a medal winner in championship history.[4]
