Athletics / Guide 19
Discus and hammer
World Athletics · 2026In short
Different implements, shared boundaries · Contact with the cage
Different implements, shared boundaries
Discus is thrown from a circle; hammer uses a head connected by a wire to a handle. Both events use a protective cage. Athletes must respect circle boundaries, the landing sector and the correct exit. The hammer head determines the landing mark; the position of its wire or handle does not by itself make a sector fault.
Contact with the cage
A throw is not automatically invalid whenever the implement touches the cage. Under this book, contact by the discus or hammer head with the far side of the cage after release is a failure; permitted near-side contact can still produce a valid throw if it lands correctly outside the cage and no other rule is broken. Safety directions always apply.
Independent explanations and translations, not official federation publications. Independent explanations of the supplied World Athletics Competition and Technical Rules, including amendments through 1 July 2026. Event-specific regulations may add conditions. References use PDF viewer page numbers; guide numbers are editorial.
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