Athlete Profile

• Name: Jacob Lange
• College: Selwyn
• Degree: Bio NatSci – 3rd Year
• Hometown: Gloucester

Jacob Lange has enjoyed remarkable success as a hammer thrower. On a national level, he has been ranked as high as seventh in the British Age Group Rankings and he came fifth in the under-20 English Schools Championships. He has a Full Blue and in last year’s Varsity match he recorded the third-longest throw of all time by any Oxbridge hammer thrower. Outside of hammer throwing, he was also crowned Cambridge’s 35th biggest BNOC by The Tab.

Can you give us a brief overview of hammer throwing?

The goal is to throw a metal ball on a wire, which is connected to a handle, as far as physically possible. Throwers rotate within a two-metre circle and use the rotational force this generates to try and increase the speed of the hammer, launching it distances of up to 86 metres.

There is a rigidly set technique: every thrower, from the grassroots level to the World Championships, will throw in the same way. The competitive element of hammer throwing comes from how well you can execute it. You have to balance going quickly with keeping the technique correct because good technique keeps the ball moving on a big radius, which allows the ball to reach a greater speed in a shorter time period.

How did you first get into hammer throwing?

I threw shot put at school and, by just being big, I did quite well at that. Then I happened to stumble upon Lorraine Shaw, who was the hammer throwing coach at my local athletics club and also the British record holder for the women’s hammer. Talking to her inspired me to get into the sport: she told me I had the potential to do well at throwing in the future, and said she wanted to coach me if I was willing to put in a lot of hard work and make some sacrifices, particularly in terms of my social life.

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What exactly did she mean by “potential”? What traits and characteristics was she referring to?

I was tall and I had quick, fast muscle fibres – those are the two generic characteristics of every hammer thrower. But often, the success of a hammer thrower depends mostly on how hard-working and determined you are. You also need to be well-coordinated: good timing and good coordination are absolutely key, so if you can show those attributes at a young age you’ll probably be pretty good at it.

In fact, ballet dancers and gymnasts make fantastic hammer throwers because they tend to have those physical attributes and traits. Indeed, Sultana Frizell – the two-time gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games from Canada – was an ice skater, but she switched to hammer throwing after being told her physique would be better suited to it than skating, and that she had loads of transferable skills that would let her throw a hammer really well.

Who is the most famous athlete in your sport?

This is a hard one to say. Most of the best hammer throwers – particularly those who’ve set new world records – fit the stereotype of being absolute monsters from Russia and the ex-Soviet countries. In the UK, Sophie Hitchon literally just became Team GB’s first ever Olympic medal winner in the women’s hammer throwing – she won a bronze at Rio 2016. And that was our first medal in hammer throwing for either gender in over 100 years too!

But I guess the most famous person in world hammer throwing is a thrower called Koji Murofushi, who made hammer throwing a massive thing in Japan – they now even use it during TV adverts for products ranging from cars to noodles!

What is the state of the sport in Cambridge, in the UK, and internationally?

There’s no real money in hammer throwing: only in America and some countries in Eastern Europe might you find a tiny bit. There’s a limited number – probably only around 10 people – who are fully funded and can make a living from it, and they’re likely to be college students in the USA. In terms of drugs, though, hammer throwing is probably one of the ‘druggiest’ track and field events, because taking things like steroids will undoubtedly make you bigger and better.

Here in the UK, hammer throwing is in its best ever state. As well as Hitchon’s medal, we’re currently the third-best country in the world for people who have thrown over 60 metres – an arbitrary figure they often choose to measure success with.

And in Cambridge, hammer throwing was a big part of Cambridge University Athletics Club’s Varsity win. For some unknown reason, we’ve currently got three fantastic throwers – Michael Painter, Tom Parker and myself – who’ve all been ranked in the UK Top 10 for our respective age groups at some point in time. We’re all currently in the UK Top 20 too. And this is pure coincidence: there’s no scholarships in play or anything like that!

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What is your training schedule and dieting programme like?

When at Cambridge, I throw three times a week. That goes up to six days a week at home in Gloucester because I get more spare time. In both places, I go to the gym three times a week – this involves a lot of heavy weightlifting, powerlifting and Olympic lifting. I also have to fit in medicine ball circuits, sprinting and core stability work plus hurdles to help increase the mobility in my hips.

For hammer throwing, you don’t want to be too big or too heavy because it detracts from the amount of speed you can generate. So my diet is relatively lean and I eat quite a lot of protein such as chicken and nuts: it leaves me in pretty good shape. I find it hard to keep it up at Cambridge, but you can overcome this with planning – I often prepare lots of meals the night before.

On a similar note, how do you reconcile a Cambridge workload and your training schedule?

For me, hammer throwing always comes first. I build my work schedule around it: I plan out when I have training first, make sure I don’t have supervisions around those times and don’t go to lectures if they clash.

How might somebody interested in hammer throwing get involved?

They would get involved through the Cambridge University Athletics Club – we’re one of the University’s largest societies. We need a massive contingent of probably over 100 athletes at a variety of levels because the Varsity match requires the top four from every athletics event to compete.

Our website is the best place to visit for more information about athletics as a whole, but if anyone has any specific questions about hammer throwing they can email Tom Parker (tp375@cam.ac.uk) or myself (jl823@cam.ac.uk).

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.