Canada is a throwing powerhouse as Katzberg, Rogers, and Mitton eye World Athletics Championships
To be a great thrower, you have to be really good at harnessing momentum. And when it comes to projectiles like hammers or shots, Team Canada’s Ethan Katzberg, Camryn Rogers, and Sarah Mitton are among the world’s very, very best.
But these athletes are also harnessing a different type of momentum—a wave of interest and enthusiasm for their disciplines brought about by their performances on the world stage, shepherding in a new era in which Canada is, well, a “Big Throws Nation.”
So, just how good are these three?
Katzberg became the first Canadian in 112 years to win an Olympic medal in the hammer throw when he took gold at Paris 2024. When Rogers claimed her own gold medal in the women’s hammer throw two days later, it had been 96 years since a Canadian woman took Olympic gold in any athletics event.
Katzberg has several other titles to his name: 2023 World champion, 2023 Pan Am Games champion, 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist. Rogers is also the 2023 World champion, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, and 2022 World silver medallist.
Mitton, who entered Paris 2024 as a gold medal favourite, had a tough experience at the Olympic Games, one that she graciously spoke to Olympic.ca about earlier this year. And yet she rallied post-Games to take the Diamond League title, in addition to her 2025 and 2024 World Indoor Championship titles, 2023 World silver medal, and 2023 Pan Am Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games victories.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Katzberg, Rogers, and Mitton are all Canadian record holders in their given events, and all three were crowned national champions at the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships where Olympic.ca was able to chat with them ahead of the upcoming World Athletics Championships, taking place September 13-21 in Tokyo. Canada is sure to be a force to be reckoned with at worlds—especially in the throws.
Further throws, higher goals
“I think almost every [Team Canada] thrower headed to the world championships has one thing on their mind,” said Mitton after her victory in Ottawa. “I’m not going to say it out loud, but I think it could be a really, really special summer.”
All three athletes are motivated not just by their own personal performance, but to keep the national attention on throwing that was ignited in Paris burning for years to come.
“I think it’s everything you could ever want, for people to see your sport and love your sport and become passionate about it,” said Rogers. “I’ve noticed a big change [post-Paris]. I’ll be in an airport travelling in Canada and someone will say: ‘You’re the hammer thrower!’ And I’m like, ‘Yes! I’m the hammer thrower!’”
Katzberg agrees that Paris marked a specific change point. While his day-to-day has remained pretty much the same since becoming an Olympic champion, he feels a bigger responsibility to represent his sport thanks to greater fan attention than ever before. All three athletes were in high demand for autographs and photos during the championships in Ottawa.
“It’s really special to be able to grow the sport and share that with Canadians,” said Katzberg.
And Canadian fans have been integral to the journeys of all three athletes, whose hometowns span almost the entire country. Mitton hails from Brooklyn, Nova Scotia with Katzberg and Rogers from Nanaimo and Richmond, B.C., respectively.
“[The Canadian fans] have also been so kind to me, and they’ve been with me through a lot of ups and downs,” said Mitton. “They’re just happy to see me throw no matter what, and that’s truly heartwarming for me.”
Greater attention on these throwers means greater exposure for young athletes to the throwing disciplines, which also include javelin and discus. These latter two throwing events have gained most of their recent attention through Canada’s decorated decathletes, Damian Warner and Pierce LePage.
Katzberg, Rogers, and Mitton all think that Canada’s “Big Throws Nation” identity is here to stay beyond their collective success.
“We have a really bright, big future ahead for all the upcoming throwers,” said Rogers.
Watch out world
Rogers and Katzberg are currently ranked number on the World Athletics ranking list for women’s and men’s hammer throw. Mitton is seeded at number three on the list for women’s shot put.
In the men’s hammer throw, the current world rankings are similar to the Paris 2024 podium, with Olympic silver medallist Bence Halasz of Hungary in the number two spot and bronze medallist Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine ranked third.
There is more spread in the women’s hammer throw. Rogers shared the podium in Paris with Team USA’s Annette Nneka Echikunwoke (silver) and China’s Jie Zhao (bronze). They are ranked sixth and ninth, respectively, heading to the world championships, while Finland’s Silja Kosonen and Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk hold second and third in the world rankings.
“I think both fields have gotten more competitive, and it’s really exciting to see,” said Katzberg, “Canada is still on top and pushing for those podium spots.”
Interestingly, none of the athletes on the women’s shot put podium at Paris 2024 are ranked within World Athletics’ top three heading into the world championships, indicating that many of the event’s top athletes struggled with the conditions in Paris just like Mitton did. Mitton’s longtime rival, American Chase Jackson, will enter the world championships as the number one seed.
“The women’s shot put is really deep this year,” said Mitton. “There’s almost five or six women already over 20m [Mitton’s Canadian record stands at 20.68m]. We had five women over 20m in one comp. So it’s going to take like your best on the day and I’m just hoping that that’s me.”
Fans can tune into the World Athletics Championships from September 13-21 by streaming on CBC Sports.
