Albany native Rudy Winkler posts personal-best Olympic finish in hammer throw

In his third Olympic Games, Sand Lake native and Averill Park High School graduate Rudy Winkler finished sixth out of 12 competitors in the final of the hammer throw Sunday in Paris.

PARIS (NEWS10) -- In his third Olympic Games, Sand Lake native and Averill Park High School graduate Rudy Winkler finished sixth out of 12 competitors in the final of the hammer throw Sunday in Paris.

Winkler's first throw of the final went 77.92 meters, which was good enough for fourth place after the first round of throws. He placed in the top-8 after the third round, which qualified him for three more throws. But Winkler was unable to top that initial figure he posted, and fell three spots shy of what would've been his first-ever medal in the event.

Canada's Ethan Katzberg put the whole field on notice right from the get-go when he launched a near Olympic-record 84.12-meter throw on his first attempt. Katzberg went on to win the gold medal with that number.

The sixth-place finish is Winkler's best of his Olympic career, improving on a seventh-place finish in the Tokyo Games in 2020.