OSAKA — Koji Murofushi is the reigning Olympic champion in the men's hammer throw. When he picked up a gold medal in Athens on a hot summer day in 2004, suddenly an entire nation gained interest in the obscure sport.

News photo
Koji Murofushi competes in the final of the hammer throw on Monday night at Osaka's Nagai Stadium. AP PHOTO

The Japanese's interest in him remains at a high level. They cheered him on to add a gold at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships on Monday night at Nagai Stadium, adding the top prize to his silver from the 2001 World Championships and bronze from worlds in 2003.

Murofushi fell short of that goal on Monday. He placed sixth with a top toss of 80.46 meters.

Ivan Tshikan of Belarus secured the gold medal with a winning throw of 83.63 meters on his sixth and final throw. Slovenia's Primoz Kozmus earned the silver (82.29) and the bronze went to Slovakia's Libor Charfreitag, who had a top mark of 81.60.

"I really respect Mr. Murofushi. He's a great player. He knows what he needs to do to win," Tshikan said later in a news conference.

In a classy move after the event, Murofushi and Tshikan strolled side by side for a short "victory lap."

"Everyone is cheering for me. I had to say thank you," Murofushi told reporters after setting his season-best throw on his second (79.46), third (80.38) and sixth throws (80.46).

He said he did his best, but of course would've been happier if he earned the gold.

Still, he summed up his performance as "totally satisfying."

Murofushi was positioned in fourth place after each of the 12 throwers had completed three throws. After five throws, he remained in fourth place.

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Murofushi's effort on Monday was well short of his personal-best throw of 84.86. But his knowledge of the sport continues to grow and grow. He is, you may recall, a Ph.D, having written his thesis this year on the biomechanics of the hammer throw.

"The hammer throw may seem like a simple sport involving only muscle work, but it's actually very profound," Murofushi told Aichi Voice writer Jun Takahara in a 2005 interview. "It requires you to curl a 16-pound (7.257-kilogram) object as far as you can by spinning inside 2.135-meter circle and using the centrifugal force generated."

And you thought hitting a golf ball was a complicated task!

Murofushi continued his analysis by saying, "You can't throw the hammer over a large distance just by training physically.

"There's a knack to it and without it you can't compete at the top level."

Those that can deserve to be ecstatic after garnering medals at the highest levels of competition.

Tshikan, for instance, had this to say after capturing the gold: "As you saw, everything is possible. I always think in a way that competition has six rounds or the first part three.

"It was a big fight, very tough and very emotional for me."

He added: "All my three victories at world championships are for me equally important and I got them after a hard fight. Our president did not call me yet. I think he will send a telegram."

Maybe Charfreitag received a congratulatory e-mail.