By Steve Keating
DOHA (Reuters) - Poland's Pawel Fajdek was again in a class of his own as he claimed a fourth consecutive hammer world championship on Wednesday by unleashing the only effort over 80 meters.
On his fourth attempt, Fajdek put down his golden marker with a throw of 80.50m that no one could come close to matching.
The fight for the remaining medals was much tighter as Frenchman Quentin Bigot snatched the silver with a toss of 78.19, which was one centimeter better than Hungary's bronze medalist Bence Halasz.
Fajdek's countryman Wojciech Nowicki, who holds the season's best score of 81.74m, did not come close to matching that performance and finished fourth after taking bronze at the previous two worlds.
Despite dominating the world championships, Fajdek has not found the same success on the Olympic stage where he has failed to reach the podium.
After his latest victory, the Pole was not thinking about next year's Tokyo Games but instead was eyeing a fifth world crown in Eugene, Oregon in 2021.
"Taking a fourth world title, it is very emotional for me and I feel very proud tonight," said Fajdek. "Now, next hard work in the following two years until Eugene."