The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about 2.5 m in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon.
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.
Heino Puuste is a retired Estonian javelin thrower who represented the USSR and later Estonia. He finished fourth at both the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1983 World Championships, and won a silver medal at the 1982 European Championships. He also won bronze medals at the Universiade in 1979 and 1981. On 6 May 1983 he threw at Birmingham a new Soviet record of 94.20 meters, eclipsing the old mark of 93.80 by Jānis Lūsis. This record was never beaten as increasing distances and frequent flat or ambiguous landings prompted a change to a new javelin design, effective starting in 1986. Puuste later became an athletics coach, most notably coaching the 2005 javelin throw world champion Andrus Värnik.
Dainis Kūla is a Latvian former javelin thrower who represented the Soviet Union at the international level for most of his career. He is most famous for controversially winning the gold medal in men's javelin throw at the 1980 Summer Olympics, becoming the second Latvian to achieve this. He is also a World Championship bronze medalist, a three-time Soviet Champion and a two-time Universiade champion.
Vítězslav Veselý is a Czech javelin thrower. He won two bronze medals at the Olympic games, in 2012 and 2020.
Kara Estelle Winger is an American track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She is the American record holder in the javelin throw with a distance of 68.11 m.
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.
Lü Huihui is a Chinese athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She won the silver medal at the 2015 World Championships and bronze medals at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.
Jakub Vadlejch is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a four-time Olympian for the Czech Republic, having competed in 2012, 2016,2020 and 2024 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 six times a competitor at the European Athletics Championships, winning the silver medal in 2022 and the gold medal in 2024. He also won the 2016 Diamond League title, 2017 Diamond League title, and the 2023 Diamond League Title.
Gustav Sule was an Estonian javelin thrower. He won bronze in the 1934 European Championships, competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics and at one point ranked second on the all-time world list.
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.
Huang Shih-Feng is a Taiwanese track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the Taiwanese record holder for the event with a personal best of 83.82 m.
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.
Philip Milanov is a Belgian discus thrower. He is a fourteen-time Belgian champion and the 2015 World University Games champion in men's discus throw. In 2015, he became the first ever Belgian athlete, male or female, to win a gold or silver medal at a World Athletics Championships by taking silver at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China.
Andreas Emil Hofmann is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. His personal best of 92.06 m ranks him eighth 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.
The men's javelin throw at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on 5 and 6 October 2019.
