In their sixth Summer Olympics as an independent nation, Tajikistan finally has its first Olympic gold medalist.
Dilshod Nazarov took gold in the hammer throw, with his 258 foot, one inch throw on his penultimate attempt of the night being the clinching throw. Nazarov, who took silver at last year’s World Championships in Beijing, won by nearly three feet and was the flag bearer for the nation’s delegation at the Opening Ceremony.
Taking silver was Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus with a throw of 255 feet, two inches, and Poland’s Wojciech Nowicki took bronze with a throw of 255 feet even.