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.
The 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Tampere, Finland from 23 to 27 July 2003. A total of 44 events were contested; 22 by men and 22 by women. Germany had the biggest medal haul with nine golds and a total of 26, closely followed by Russia. Great Britain was third with 17 medals, while Romania was fourth with ten medals. Four championship records were set at the competition, although three were as a result of using lighter implements in the men's throwing events.
Kamila Skolimowska was a Polish hammer thrower. She is best known for her gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, which made her the youngest Olympic hammer champion, as well as for her two medals from the European Championships. Her personal best throw, and former Polish record, was 76.83 metres, achieved in May 2007 in Doha. She died on 18 February 2009 in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal at the Polish national team training camp.
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres (69.7 ft) outdoors and 20.98 metres (68.8 ft) indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
Krisztián Pars is a Hungarian hammer thrower. He competed at the Summer Olympics in 2004, 2008, and 2012, winning the gold medal in 2012. He also won the 2012 and 2014 European championships.
Petra Lammert is a former German shot putter and current bobsledder. She was the 2009 European Indoor champion in the shot put and medallist at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. Her personal best throw in the shot put is 20.04 metres, achieved in May 2007 in Zeven. She was the runner-up in the two-woman bobsled at the 2012 World Championships.
Dilshod Jamoliddinovich Nazarov is a Tajik track and field athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. He has represented his country at the Olympic Games on four occasions, winning the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, the first gold medal for Tajikistan in the history of the Olympic Games.
David Storl is a German track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put. He was successful on the youth and junior athletics circuit, winning gold medals at the World Youth Championships and World Junior Championships. Storl won his first senior medal, a silver, at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
This article contains an overview of the year 2009 in athletics.
Jodie Alicia Williams is a British sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres, having begun her career concentrating on 100 and 200 metres. A prodigious junior, she is the 2009 World Youth Champion at 100 and 200 m, the 2010 World Junior Champion at 100 m, the 2011 European Junior Champion at 100 and 200 m, and the 2013 European U23 Champion at 200 m.
Edward Sarul is a former Polish track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. He was the inaugural champion at the World Championships in Athletics in 1983. He also won the gold medal at the 1983 European Cup. A six-time Polish champion in the shot put, he held the Polish record for the event for twenty-six years with his personal best of 21.68 metres.
The 2013 European Cup Winter Throwing was held on 16 and 17 March at the Pista de Atletismo Universitat Jaume I and Complejo Deportivo Gaetà Huguet in Castellón, Spain. It was the thirteenth edition of the athletics competition in throwing events and was jointly organised by the European Athletic Association and the Real Federación Española de Atletismo. The competition featured men's and women's contests in shot put, discus throw, javelin throw and hammer throw. In addition to the senior competitions, there were also under-23 events for younger athletes. A total of 249 athletes from 38 nations entered the competition. It was the second time that Spain hosted the event, following on from the 2009 edition held in Tenerife.
Morgan Lake is a British high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and placed fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Lake finished sixth in the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and fourth in the 2018 World Indoor Championships.
Kai Kazmirek is a German track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He holds a personal best of 8580 points for the event achieved in Rio 2016, as well as an indoor heptathlon best of 6173 points. He is a member of LG Rhein-Wied athletics club.
The athletics competition at the 2007 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held from 23 to 27 July. The events took place in Belgrade, Serbia. Boys and girls born 1990 or 1991 or later participated 34 track and field events, with similar programmes for the sexes with the exception of no steeplechase or hammer throw event for girls.
The athletics competition at the 2005 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held from 3 to 8 July. The events took place at the Stadio Comunale G. Teghil in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. Boys and girls born 1988 or 1989 or later participated 33 track and field events, with similar programmes for the sexes with the exception of no steeplechase event for girls. A girls' and a boys' triple jump were contested for the first time.
The 5th World Festival of Youth and Students featured an athletics competition among its programme of events. The events were contested in Warsaw, Poland in August 1955. Mainly contested among Eastern European athletes, it served as an alternative to the more Western European-oriented 1955 Summer International University Sports Week held in San Sebastián the same year.
The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students featured an athletics competition among its programme of events. The events were contested in Moscow, Soviet Union in August 1957. Mainly contested among Eastern European athletes, it served as an alternative to the more Western European-oriented 1957 World University Games held in Paris the same year in September.
Ewa Nikola Swoboda is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the short sprints. She is a three-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 60 metres, having won the gold medal in 2019 and silvers in 2017 and 2023.
Lukas Weißhaidinger is an Austrian discus thrower and shot putter. He was European junior discus champion in 2011 and holds the Austrian record in men's discus throw. He won bronze medals at the 2018 European Championships, 2019 World Athletics Championships, and 2020 Summer Olympics.
