Athletics at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games:

Many of the pre-Olympic favorites were eliminated in the qualifying round. The final was contested in a rainstorm which made the competition a true crapshoot. The winner was the very lightly-regarded [Szymon Ziólkowski] (POL), who won with his fourth-round throw of 80.02 (262-6½). His best previous year-end world ranking was ninth in 1998, and he had not been ranked in 1999. The 1992 silver medalist, Belarussian [Igor Astapkovich], came thru in round five with his best mark of 79.17 (259-9) which tied his teammate, [Ivan Tikhon], but Astapkovich won the bronze based on his second-best mark, 79.06 (259-4¾), which he recorded in the final round.