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.
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.
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.
Katherine Dinah "Goldie" Sayers is a British former javelin thrower, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was born in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. On 20 May 2007, Sayers set a new British record in the javelin at 65.05 m, thus becoming the first British woman to throw over 65 metres since javelins were redesigned in 1999. Sayers set the record when competing for her university, Loughborough, at the Loughborough International match. She cemented this achievement at the Norwich Union Glasgow Grand Prix on 3 June 2007 where she beat a top-class international field in rainy conditions with a throw of 63.59 m. Defeated rivals included European champion and Olympic silver medallist Steffi Nerius and world champion Barbora Špotáková.
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.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
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.
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.
Subedar Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete, who is the reigning Olympic champion and World champion in Men's javelin throw. He is the first Asian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in javelin and the first Asian to win gold in his event at the World Championship. A Junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army, Chopra is the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics. He is also the first track and field athlete from India to win at the World Under-20 Championships, where in 2016 he achieved a world U20 record throw of 86.48 m, becoming the first Indian athlete to set a world record.
Anderson Peters is a Grenadian javelin thrower and the 2019 and 2022 world champion in the event. He is a multiple time CARIFTA Games champion at the discipline and in 2016 earned a bronze medal at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, setting a new Grenadian national record and OECS record at the same time.
The 2016 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 17th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association and the Vietnam Athletics Federation. Athletes born between 1997 and 2000 competed in 44 events, divided evenly between the sexes. The competition took place over four days from 3–6 June at Thống Nhất Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A total of 45 countries entered athletes into the tournament, eighteen of which reached the medal table. The competition, including its opening and closing ceremonies, was broadcast live on Vietnamese carrier VTV6
Vipin Kasana is an Indian athlete who competes in the Javelin throw. He participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games which took place in Glasgow, Scotland. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games he finished fifth.
Arshad Nadeem is a Pakistani javelin thrower. He represents WAPDA in the domestic competition. He is the first Pakistani to qualify for the final of any track and field event at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he created a new national and Commonwealth Games record with a throw of 90.18m and became the first ever athlete from South Asia to breach the 90m mark. In 2023, he became the first ever Pakistani athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships, by winning a silver medal.
The men's javelin throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes competed; the exact number depended on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.
Junior Warrant Officer Shivpal Singh is an Indian javelin thrower and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Indian Air Force.
India has participated in the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. Their first ever medal was a Bronze medal won by Anju Bobby George in 2003 in Paris; in the Women's long jump discipline.
Devarakeshavi Prakasha Manu is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw.
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