Wonder Woman of the Week: Kathrin Klaas

Not a lot of people keep hammer throwers on their radar- including sports fanatics- but there has been one such athlete in my queue for a quite a while now. The German hammer thrower could have easily inspired the female approach to Loki and could probably outlift all the “bros” of the world. Whether you pay attention to track & field or not, she’s a name to keep an ear open for. Kathrin Klaas is the Wonder Woman of the Week.

Like most Olympic athletes, Klaas started her sport at a young age. At seven, she loved the running, jumping, and throwing events and her favorites were the 50m and long jump. At age eleven, Klaas started the hammer throw. [1] For those of you unbeknownst to the hammer throw, it is a sport invented in Ireland by large burley men who would whirl stones tied to a rope around their head then throw it as far as they could. The sport evolved to become an event in the track & field games around the 1860’s and standardized in 1875. Essentially, an athlete attempts to rocket a sixteen pound weight tied tethered to a three and a half foot-long rope as far as possible. [2]

At 17, Kathrin Klaas qualified for her first national team competition for the hammer throw after having to chose between throwing and hurdling for track. Klaas later qualified and competed in the Beijing and London Olympics earning fifth place in the latter. She competed in five world championships earning her best ranking fourth at Berlin in 2009. She continued to compete and even volunteers with the police force. [1] (By the way, if a [police officer came running at me swinging a hammer in my direction, I strongly believe I would soil myself.)

Kathrin Klaas may not be the best in her sport, but that’s not what makes a role model. Klaas works adamantly to bring hammer throwing to school track & field teams in Germany to expose the sport to more boys and girls throughout her country. At thirty-one years old, she’s shown zero signs of slowing down. Klaas will most likely be competing in next year’s Olympics so if you’re going to watch track & field, keep an eye out for thir week’s Wonder Woman.

Klaas, Kathrin. “Hammer.” 2015. Kathrin Klaas. Accessed 19 August 2015. http://www.kathrinklaas.de/#bio

“Origins.” 2015. Hammerthrow.org. Accessed 19 August 2015. http://hammerthrow.org/what-is-the-hammer/origins/