Kamila Skolimowska

Kamila Skolimowska (4 November 1982 – 18 February 2009) was a Polish hammer thrower. She is best known for her gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, which made her the youngest Olympic hammer champion, as well as for her two medals from the European Championships. Her personal best throw, and former Polish record, was 76.83 metres, achieved in May 2007 in Doha. She died on 18 February 2009 in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal at the Polish national team training camp.

Early life and career She was born in Warsaw. Her father is super heavyweight weightlifter Robert Skolimowski who competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 1986 World Weightlifting Championships. Skolimowska first made herself known at age fifteen, when she won the hammer throw event at the 1997 European Junior Championships; the first time hammer throw was staged at the European Junior Championships. She was actually fourteen years and 264 days at the time, and record holder the year before. Her personal best in 1997 was 63.48 metres. At age 17 years and 331 days, Skolimowska became the youngest Olympic hammer champion. As it was the first time that the women's hammer throw was staged at the Olympics, she also set an Olympic record, which stood for four years. She received the Polish Golden Cross of Merit for her achievement.

Career after the Olympic gold In the 2001 season, she finished fourth at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, with a throw of 68.05 metres. One month later she improved her national record to 71.71 metres, which was enough to win the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Melbourne. In 2002, she took her first championships medal since the Olympic victory, at the 2002 European Championships. Throwing 72.46 metres to take the silver medal behind Olga Kuzenkova, she almost improved on her 72.60 result achieved in June in Bydgoszcz. Toward the end of the season she finished fifth at the 2002 World Cup.

The Kamila Skolimowska Memorial was established in the year of her death, initially as a hammer throw competition before evolving into an annual track and field event.

Competition record