Stephen James Backley, OBE is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his 91.46-metre (300.1 ft) throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a firm fixture in the British national athletics team. He won four gold medals at the European Championships, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, two silvers and a bronze at the Olympic Games, and two silvers at the World Championships. Currently, he is an occasional commentator for athletics competitions, especially the field events.
Vadims Vasiļevskis is a retired Latvian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He won silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His personal best throw of 90.73 m, set in 2007, is the Latvian record. In 2008, Vasiļevskis was awarded the Latvian Order of the Three Stars for his achievements in athletics.
Andreas Thorkildsen is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008, European Champion in 2006 and 2010, and World Champion in 2009. He is the first male javelin thrower in history to simultaneously be European, World and Olympic Champion. He was also a three-time silver medalist at the World Championships, placing second in 2005, 2007 and 2011. His personal best of 91.59 m, set in 2006, is the Norwegian record.
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki is a Finnish retired track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2007. His personal best throw of 91.53 m, set in 2005, ranks him eleventh on the overall list.
Boris Obergföll is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He won a bronze medal in the World Championships twice. His personal best throw was 90.44 metres, set in July 1997. This ranks him fifth among German javelin throwers, behind Johannes Vetter, Thomas Röhler, Raymond Hecht and Andreas Hofmann.
Raymond Hecht is a German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. His personal best throw is 92.60 m, achieved in 1995. This places him eighth on the all-time rankings.
Uwe Hohn is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is the only athlete to throw a javelin 100 metres or more, with his world record of 104.80 m. A new javelin design was implemented in 1986 and the records had to be restarted, thus Hohn's mark became an "eternal world record". He coached Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold in the men's javelin throw at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo.
Vítězslav Veselý is a Czech javelin thrower. He won two bronze medals at the Olympic games, in 2012 and 2020.
Petr Frydrych is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. His personal best of 88.32 m was set at the 2017 World Championships, where he won the bronze medal. He is coached by world record holder and three-time Olympic Champion Jan Železný.
Ari Pekka Mannio is a Finnish javelin thrower.
Julius Yego is a Kenyan track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Nicknamed "Mr. YouTube" because he learned how to throw by watching YouTube videos of javelin athletes, Yego is the African record holder for the event with a personal best of 92.72 m.
Jakub Vadlejch is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a three-time Olympian for the Czech Republic, having competed in 2012, 2016 and 2020, winning a silver medal in 2020. He also has represented his country six times at the World Championships in Athletics, winning the bronze medal in 2022 and 2023 and silver medal in 2017, and four times a competitor at the European Athletics Championships. He also won the 2016 IAAF Diamond League title.
Dmitriy Sergeyev Tarabin is a Russian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. His personal best for the event is 88.84 m. He was the winner of the javelin at Summer Universiade and the Russian Championships in 2013. Tarabin previously competed for Moldova and remains the country's national record holder.
Thomas Röhler is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the 2016 Olympic Champion and 2018 European Champion. His personal best of 93.90 m for the event ranks him third on the overall list.
Liu Shiying is a Chinese athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She is the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in women's javelin throw.
Christin Hussong is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She has won gold at the 2011 World Youth Championships, 2015 European U23 Championships and at the 2018 European Championships. Hussong holds the European Championships record with her personal best throw of 69.19 m.
Johannes Vetter is a German athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He won gold at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. His personal best of 97.76 m is the German record, and ranks him second on the overall list behind Jan Železný. Vetter currently trains under Boris Obergföll and is a member of LG Offenburg's track and field squad. He was previously with SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken and Dresdner SC.
Magnus Kirt is an Estonian retired athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. His personal best of 90.61 m is the Estonian record.
Julian Weber is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He won the European Junior Championship in 2013.
Patriks Gailums is a Latvian javelin thrower. He was the silver medalist at the 2022 European Throwing Cup, and he is a four-time medalist at the Latvian Athletics Championships.
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