Olympic Track and Field 2016: Men's Hammer Throw Winners, Scores and Results

The 2016 Olympics rolled on Friday with Tajikistan's Dilshod Nazarov taking home the gold medal in the men's hammer throw with a distance of 78.68 meters.

Nazarov's win was also a historic moment for his home country, as it marks Tajikistan's first-ever Olympic gold medal. 

Here are the medal results from the hammer throw at the Rio Games:

Medal	Thrower	Distance (Meters)
Gold	Dilshod Nazarov (Tajikistan)	78.68
Silver	Ivan Tsikhan (Belarus)	77.79
Bronze	Wojciech Nowicki (Poland)	77.73

Nazarov, who won silver at the 2015 World Championships, easily had his best finish in four trips to the Olympics. The Tajikistan star finished 11th in 2008 and 10th in 2012 and failed to make it out of qualifying in 2004. 

Seeking to cap off his best Olympic run to date, Nazarov took the lead early in the finals with a distance 78.07 meters on his third attempt. 

Nazarov's fifth attempt would improve upon that, as the hammer traveled 78.68 meters to give him extra cushion leading into the sixth and final attempt. 

Deporte Interno captured the exuberant image of Nazarov waving Tajikistan's flag after he captured the gold medal:

Ivan Tsikhan was behind Nazarov with a distance of 77.79 meters, hardly an insurmountable gap to overcome if he wanted to capture his second career Olympic medal and first gold, but he was unable to get the hammer far enough on his final attempt and was forced to settle for silver. 

Wojciech Nowicki took home the bronze in his first-ever Olympic appearance. The 27-year-old came within .06 meters of capturing a silver, but this isn't a bad consolation prize for the young man on the biggest stage he's ever been on. 

Krisztian Pars was the defending Olympic gold medalist in this event, winning in London with a throw of 80.59 meters. He finished fourth in qualifying, perhaps showing signs of slowing down at the age of 34, and wound up a disappointing seventh in the finals. 

Yet the true story of the event was Nazarov taking home Olympic gold after four tries and making history for his home country. 

The Olympics are full of great stories every four years. Nazarov has etched his name forever alongside those that have carried a nation's hopes and dreams.