Merlin Hummel threw a massive 81.27m to take the European lead from Mykhaylo Kokhan by one centimetre at the Sparkassen Hammerwurf meeting, a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event on 24 May.
The silver medallist from last year’s world championships had opened his season with 77.64m on 16 May, but on Sunday he had four throws past that mark including two over 80m.
Remarkably, Hummel tied with his second best ever throw, having first thrown 81.27m at the Madrid 2025 European Athletics Team Championships.
This result also makes him the fifth European to surpass the 80m mark this season, a feat that was not achieved in the whole 2025 season and, prior to the past weekend, only two times in the last 13 years.
Hummel’s performance only adds to the intensity we can expect in the men’s hammer at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships.
There have already been 14 athletes that have surpassed the qualifying standard required for Birmingham, the second most for a men’s field event so far, with long jump the only event with more athletes that have met the standard with 15.