Martin Girvan (born 17 April 1960) is a British former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who specialised in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. He represented both Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international competition.

Biography

Girvan had a personal best throw of 77.54m, set in Wolverhampton 1984, breaking both the British and Commonwealth records. His British record stood for 31-years. He competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles and finished ninth in the final. His best attempt of 72.32m was registered with his second throw. In addition to his Olympic appearance he also won silver medals at the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbe ...

and was twice British hammer throw champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

titles at the

1980 AAA Championships The 1980 AAA Championships sponsored by Nationwide was the 1980 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 5 to 6 September 1980 at the Crystal Palace Nationa ...

and

1981 AAA Championships The 1981 AAA Championships sponsored by Nationwide Building Society, Nationwide was the 1981 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 7 to 8 August 1981 at t ...

Claims on doping

Outspoken against drugs in sport, in the late 1980s he made allegations of drug taking and cover-up in athletics. Girvan claimed that earlier in the decade, in order to test suspicions he had, he asked British athletics official Andy Norman prior to testing at a meet in Crystal Palace that his results would be "embarrassing", which he says prompted Norman to organise for his urine sample to be switched with another. In another allegation, Girvan stated that leading hammer thrower

Yuriy Sedykh Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh (, ) (11 June 1955 – 14 September 2021) was a track and field athlete who represented the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1991 in the hammer throw. He was a European, World and Olympic Champion, and holds the world record ...

once advised him on what type of drugs to take, during a coaching seminar. Both Norman and Sedykh denied the allegations.

References

External links

Martin Girvan
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girvan, Martin 1960 births Living people Male hammer throwers from Northern Ireland Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Northern Ireland Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes from Wolverhampton Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games English male hammer throwers British male hammer throwers 20th-century Irish sportsmen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics