Image credit: CFJC Today/Anthony Corea

By Marty Hastings

REPEAT CHAMPION

Katzberg wins second consecutive world title, breaks championship and Canadian records

Sep 16, 2025 | 9:57 AM

KAMLOOPS — Ethan Katzberg of the Kamloops Track and Field Club is a two-time world champion.

Katzberg moved the implement 84.70 metres with his second throw at the World Athletics Championships on Tuesday (Sept. 16) in Tokyo, breaking the 18-year-old championship record (83.63 metres) and his own Canadian (84.38 metres) record, the latter set in Kenya in 2024.

The reigning Canadian champion finished ahead of Merlin Hummel of Germany, who won silver with a throw of 82.77 metres, while Bence Halasz of Hungary earned bronze with a heave of 82.69 metres.

The Katzberg victory completed the Canadian sweep at worlds, with Camryn Rogers finishing atop the podium in women’s hammer throw on Monday.

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Rogers and Katzberg are the only Canadians to win repeat world titles in an individual athletics event.

Katzberg, a 23-year-old Nanaimo product, moved to the Tournament Capital to train with coach Dylan Armstrong in 2020, arriving with a personal best of about 55 metres.

He won gold at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, with a throw of 84.12 metres.

Katzberg set (81.18 metres) and raised (81.25 metres) the Canadian record at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the youngest-ever men’s hammer throw world champion. He was also the youngest medalist and the first Canadian male to reach the podium in the discipline at worlds.

His throw on Tuesday is the fifth-longest in men’s hammer throw history, according to worldathletics.org.

Yuriy Sedykh holds the world record, with a throw of 86.74m for the Soviet Union at the 1986 European Championships in Germany.

Katzberg is coached by Armstrong, who was coached by Anatoliy Bondarchuk – who coached Sedykh.