2024 Olympics: Aussies, Germans call for 'DNA test' as moustache-laden Canadian gold medalist Ethan Katzberg sets social media ablaze
Ethan Katzberg's hair and moustache game is almost as impressive as his hammer-throwing skills. Almost
Ethan Katzberg's absolutely dominant Olympic performance in the hammer throw competition yielded Canada's first gold medal in the event since 1956.
It was Canada's best-ever finish in the event, with the Nanaimo, B.C., native becoming the first Canadian to reach the Olympic podium in hammer throw since the 1912 Stockholm Games, where Duncan Gillis claimed silver. Canada has only medalled in the event one other time, with Con Walsh securing bronze way back at the 1908 Olympics in London.
Katzberg's performance was one for the ages, opening the hammer throw final with a throw of 84.12 metres, and nobody else came close to matching that. The 22-year-old also posted the second-best throw of the competition at 82.28 metres, while no other competitor reached the 80-metre mark.
Katzberg ended up claiming gold by more than four metres, with Bence Halasz of Hungary winning silver with a throw of 79.97m and Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Kokhan taking bronze with a toss of 79.39m.
Ethan Katzberg with a DOMINANT first throw in the men's hammer throw final.
84.12m
His second longest throw this season, just behind his World Record of 84.28 set on the Keino Continental Tour in Kenya.pic.twitter.com/0Oi8panBsQ— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) August 4, 2024
Katzberg was quick to praise his longtime coach following his electric gold-medal win.
"I gotta give a lot of thanks to my prep man over there, Dylan Armstrong," Katzberg said after the event. "He got me ready for this and we prepared for this for a whole year. It was the only thing we were thinking about and to be able to throw 84 and bring home the gold, that felt really good."
"I can call myself an Olympic champion for the rest of my life and that's a really special moment and I'll always remember this day," Katzberg added. "It was incredible."
His performance, however, wasn't the only thing causing a stir, as many couldn't help but be captivated by Katzburg's absolutely elite hair and moustache game.
Can we please talk about my new favourite Olympian?
The eyebrows. The ‘stache. The hair. The one commentators called “skinny.” The impossibly ridiculous throw - first try. Having a great time, while everyone else is STRESSED.
Ethan Katzberg, everyone!#Olympics #Paris2024 https://t.co/iKWK20F0Io— Sarah Kate Marsh 🌻🍉🕊️ (@sarahkatemarsh) August 4, 2024
How am I watching Ethan Katzberg in the Olympics and not in a documentary about guys who follow Rush on tour pic.twitter.com/yz6xb9nkmX
— Jordan Ellenberg (@JSEllenberg) August 4, 2024
Ethan Katzberg:
The Hammer Throw King! 💪🏼🇨🇦👑@TeamCanada @Devin_Heroux @chrishemsworth @CBCOlympics #TeamCanada🇨🇦#Hammerthrow #Athletics #OlympicGames #olympics #Paris2024 #GOLD #Thor pic.twitter.com/I3Xp5kIybd— 👑 Kimberley Ford 👑 (@RoyaltyCanadian) August 5, 2024
Canadian hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg looks just like David Crosby pic.twitter.com/ykKs9KY1tv
— Ana Leorne (@analeorne) August 4, 2024
While Canadians from coast-to-coast were praising their homegrown hammer-throw champ, so was the rest of the sports world — especially a bunch of Australians who hilariously tried to claim Katzberg as their own.
"Nah I want a DNA test, this man is clearly Australian," one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote.
“They’re just appropriating the Aussie male look,” suggested another.
"He's probably a secret Aussie," according to another post, while a fellow Australian claimed, "I’m pretty sure this dude lives down the street from me and drives a dodge ram truck."
Though Australians were leading the charge, some German and Dutch folks claimed Katzberg was, in fact, theirs as well.
"DNA will prove him a German porn actor from 1978," read one X post, while another claimed, "wrong! German. His name is Leon and his sister's name is Mandy. DNA will prove it."
"He is a Campsite owner from the Netherlands," according to a Dutch X user.
Canadians aren't about to give up their new national treasure that easily, though.
Canadians are Northern Hemisphere Australians. Request denied.
— Doug Garrison (@DH_Garrison) August 5, 2024
I grew up in Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
This man screams Nanaimo.— Trevor Bradley (@trevor_bradley) August 5, 2024
Aboot your assumption bud, that man is clearly from Keswick, Ontario don’t cha know.
— Michael Sherkin (@MSherkin) August 5, 2024
Katzberg, who is indeed Canadian, said he took up hammer throw after watching his sister compete in the same event when he was younger.
“My sister was a hammer thrower before me,” Katzberg said. “I started coming out to her trainings and I thought it looks like fun.
“So I picked it up when I was 14 and I just kind of did it for fun. It feels great to be here now with a gold medal.”
At just 22 years old, Katzburg is already a Commonwealth Games silver medallist (2022), hammer throw world champion (2023) and, now, and Olympic gold medalist.