18-year old Hammer Thrower Kai Barham has recently landed a scholarship with the University of California after sweeping the youth rankings. We speak with him on Invicta Sport.
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00:00 Dartford's very own Kai Barham has set his sights on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
00:07 And the pathway to getting there has just been made all that clearer, after landing
00:11 a top scholarship to the University of Berkeley in California, where he'll be training under
00:16 some of the world's greatest hammer throwers.
00:19 But what is it about the sport that makes it so unique?
00:22 Well the equipment needed to take part is relatively simple.
00:25 A heavy metal ball attached to a steel wire and a handle, with a large enough space to
00:30 throw it.
00:31 But the technique is much more sophisticated.
00:35 Athletes step into a circular throwing area, unleash a spinning dance with a build of momentum
00:41 before releasing it towards the field.
00:44 Scoring in hammer throw is all about the distance.
00:47 Throws are measured from the centre of the circle to the spot where the hammer lands.
00:52 But stepping out of bounds, losing form or faltering will result in a disqualification.
00:59 Dominating the youth rankings since taking up the sport, it's safe to say that Kai Barham
01:04 has made a name for himself in the hammer throwing scene.
01:07 But before heading to the States, and with a personal best of 70.58 metres, Barham aims
01:12 to smash the British record at the Under 20 World Championships in Peru.
01:17 Then it's all sights on making the Team GB squad for Los Angeles 2028.
01:23 So the next time you see a hammer thrower in action, why not take the time to appreciate
01:27 the artistry, the strength and the dedication that defines this Olympic sport.
01:35 Well joining me in the studio now is Kai.
01:37 Kai, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to Invicta Sport as well.
01:41 Now looking at those pictures, that looks just extraordinary.
01:43 But how did it all start for you?
01:45 I know you were 12 years old when you took up the sport.
01:48 Why hammer throwing?
01:49 Well it was my school teachers that sort of got me into it.
01:52 So we have quite a strong athletics team at my school and they sort of put me in the charts
01:57 for throwing because I was good at rugby.
01:59 So they thought well, could be good at athletics.
02:01 Yeah I just found that I loved it immediately and I ended up being quite talented at it
02:06 and I thought yeah, I'll give it a go.
02:08 Had you seen much of it before when you first picked it up?
02:11 Because I think most people, they think hammer throwing, they think the Olympics, that's
02:13 kind of every four years it comes around but obviously not for you now.
02:17 It's kind of turned into your whole life.
02:18 Had you seen it before?
02:19 Only a little bit.
02:20 So I'd seen some of the boys in the year above do it and I've been like, oh wow, I like them,
02:24 I think they're cool.
02:25 Maybe I'll give it a go and try and copy them.
02:27 I mean it looks like such a display of strength as you're doing it but it's a lot of technique
02:32 as well that goes into hammer throwing.
02:34 Yeah, big time, big time.
02:35 So I spend probably 60% of my week working on my technique and then about 40% on my strength.
02:40 So it's completely dominated by the technical and finer aspects but when you watch it, it's
02:46 like, well that's all strength but it's much finer than that.
02:49 Absolutely.
02:50 I mean we saw some of the photos on the screen there and the pictures of you in action.
02:55 You've got to absolutely ignore my ignorance here but surely there's a moment where, I
03:01 mean how do you find, what can you learn next in a way?
03:05 Because it looks to someone like me who's never kind of taken an interest really in
03:10 hammer throwing until today, until I've looked at your pictures.
03:13 Where's the sort of room for progression once you've kind of mastered your style of it?
03:17 Yeah, so there's so many fine details and it's one of the most important events for
03:21 your coach.
03:22 So in other events you can kind of get away with doing it yourself but for me, I've had,
03:27 my former coach was an Olympian and the new coach has taken me over at Berkeley.
03:31 Our coach is two world champions.
03:33 So it's sort of, they work out all the technical stuff and I just sort of listen and do what
03:37 I'm told.
03:38 It makes it easy for me, hard for them.
03:40 Yeah, and you mentioned going to the US as well, I mean a big move for you.
03:44 But talk to me about the last few years then.
03:45 I mean when did it kind of become a reality that you thought, oh I could go to America
03:50 and I could go to university and take this on?
03:53 I think it was sort of as I was coming out of COVID, I sort of won my first national
03:57 titles and started talking to some of the senior athletes that had come back from America
04:02 and they all sort of gave it really good reviews.
04:04 They were saying this is the way to go.
04:06 You get better funding.
04:08 People start paying a bit more attention to athletics over there than they do here.
04:12 And it's just more of a growth opportunity than anything I'd have here.
04:14 So it was sort of just out of COVID that I was getting pushed that way.
04:18 And you're in your University of California hoodie there as well.
04:22 Why did you choose Berkeley?
04:24 For me it was a mix of the coach and the university itself.
04:28 Obviously the academics are incredible there, but I also just got on super well with the
04:32 coach.
04:33 He's probably the best in the world and it's just an opportunity I couldn't really turn
04:36 down.
04:37 And as you go, I mean, I think it's quite easy to say, oh, you're going off to do your
04:41 hammock throwing, but you are going to be studying as well at university.
04:43 It's all part of the scholarship.
04:45 You've chosen science and science and English.
04:47 Is that right?
04:48 Yeah.
04:49 Yeah.
04:50 I'm going to try and do two degrees while I'm out there.
04:51 A mix of physics and English or economics and English.
04:53 I'm still working that out.
04:54 But yeah, it should be a nice challenge to go with the sport.
04:57 That's it.
04:58 I mean, it's quite a balance there because next year, I mean, this is before you actually
05:02 start there, if I'm right.
05:03 You've got the under 20 world championships.
05:06 But whilst you're there as well, you'll be playing for Berkeley and representing them.
05:11 So I mean, quite the challenge ahead of you.
05:12 Yeah, it will be a bit of a juggling act.
05:16 And the way it lines up is the main world season for European championships, world championships,
05:21 that sort of thing.
05:22 It happens after the year finishes academically.
05:25 But there's a big portion of the year where I'm competing for Berkeley and doing my degree
05:30 at the same time.
05:31 So yeah, it's a finely balanced thing.
05:34 And I have to work with the coaches, the academic advisors to sort out my schedule to get in
05:38 the best place for those big American competitions and then the big world competitions afterwards.
05:43 We've got the photo on the screen here of you clearly having a bit of a celebration,
05:47 having signed your scholarship to make the move.
05:51 What's been the reaction from your friends and family?
05:53 Because it is a big move moving all the way to America.
05:56 It's been kind of very surreal, not just for me, but also the people around me.
06:00 My life has changed so much over the last few months, let alone the few years that I've
06:04 been doing this.
06:05 And I knew it was coming down the line, but it's kind of arrived much quicker than I expected,
06:10 all this, the real side of moving out to America.
06:14 And my family have been very, very supportive and all my friends have been a little bit
06:17 daunted, I guess, by me moving the other side of the world.
06:21 We're jealous as well.
06:22 I mean, like I said, you're trading the skies and what we've got here for the Californian
06:26 sun.
06:27 But OK, before we finish, I want to kind of get into your mind a bit.
06:30 When you're stepping up to the circle there, you've got your hammer with you.
06:35 What's going through the mind in those few moments?
06:37 It depends.
06:38 If I'm having a good day, it's very fluid.
06:40 It's more sort of I'm trusting myself.
06:44 I'm going in with the mindset that I know what to do.
06:46 I can do this.
06:48 But other days it's like I'm going through all the different technical points I need
06:50 to focus on if it's not quite as fluid.
06:54 And it's sort of about finding my rhythm and trying to work on small details when it's
06:59 not going so well.
07:00 And I mean, when you're there, I mean, I tend to say this a lot when I'm speaking to athletes,
07:04 when you have a kind of physical object with you, it's just you and your hammer.
07:09 Talk to me about the hammer we've got here.
07:10 This is, remind me, this is six kilos.
07:14 And this is the weight you use as a junior, if I'm correct?
07:17 Yeah, it's the one I use for my under 20 competitions.
07:20 So European Champs last year was under 20.
07:22 So I was using this.
07:23 And all my national titles have gone with this.
07:26 So yeah, I've got some good memories for that.
07:28 And I mean, you must have quite a relationship with your hammer as well.
07:31 I mean, when you're there, it's just you and the hammer.
07:33 I mean, how many have you got then at home?
07:35 How many hammers?
07:36 Well, so overall, probably about 10, 15.
07:39 They're all different weights, different length wires.
07:43 And I use them mainly in training to work on different aspects.
07:45 So use a heavy one to get stronger, use a light one to get faster and that sort of thing.
07:49 That's exciting stuff.
07:51 Best of luck with the future.
07:52 Thank you so much for coming here.
07:54 And I'm sure we'll follow all your journey as you go to the US as well.
07:58 And of course, best of luck next year in Peru as well in the under 20 World Championships.
08:01 Thank you very much.