Olympic Hammer Throw Champ Dies

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) â€” Jozsef Csermak, the first Olympic champion to throw the hammer more than 60 meters, has died at 68. <br><br>He died of a heart attack at his home in Tapolca on Friday night,

Monday, January 15th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) â€” Jozsef Csermak, the first Olympic champion to throw the hammer more than 60 meters, has died at 68.

He died of a heart attack at his home in Tapolca on Friday night, Bernadette Bernath of the Hungarian Athletics Federation said Monday.

Csermak's toss of 60.34 meters (197 feet, 11 inches) at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics broke the world record of 59.88 meters (196-5) set by compatriot Imre Nemeth two years earlier.

Csermak also won the gold medal at the 1954 European Championships. He then turned to coaching, training another Hungarian champion, Gyula Zsivotzky.

Zsivotzky won the Olympic silver medal in 1960 and 1964 and the 1968. He was fifth at the 1972 Munich Games.

Csermak also worked for the state railway company for 38 years.

Information on survivors was unavailable.

The date of the funeral was not announced.