IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge

The IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge was an annual hammer throw series, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 2010 until the end of 2019 season. The series of hammer throw competitions for men and women were primary held at meetings with IAAF World Challenge status. The rankings were decided by combining the total (in metres) of each athlete's three greatest throws at the permit events during the season. Further points could be gained by those who broke or equalled the world record mark for the event.^[1]

The competition's creation was a result of the IAAF Golden League being replaced by the IAAF Diamond League in 2010 – hammer throw was the sole track and field event not to feature on the new top level circuit. The challenge was designed to allow hammer throwers to compete in a global seasonal competition, similar to that found for other track and field events on the Diamond League. In 2020, World Athletics launched the World Continental Tour including hammer throw competitions.

The total prize money available in 2010 was US$202,000, split evenly between male and female athletes. The male and female winners each received $30,000, while second and third placed athletes were entitled to $20,000 and $14,000 respectively. Increasingly smaller prizes were given to the remaining throwers who rank in the top twelve.^[1][2] The eleven meetings which had permit status in 2010 offered either a men's contest, a women's contest, or both – an arrangement which gave athletes of each sex a total of seven opportunities to score points for the challenge.^[1]

The most successful athlete of the series was Poland's Anita Włodarczyk, who won the women's title six times straight from 2013 to 2018.^[3] Her compatriot Paweł Fajdek was the most successful man, with five victories.^[4] Germany's Betty Heidler and Hungarian Krisztián Pars have each won the title on three occasions. Fajdek holds the men's series record score of 248.48 metres while Włodarczyk is the women's series record holder with 240.44 metres.