Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway throwing in the Olympic final (© Getty Images)
In seemingly every possible context the Olympic Javelin victory of 22 year-old Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen with an 86.50 personal best throw on the last day of the track and field competitions in Athens was a surprise.
Capturing the achievement in a phrase was the winner himself. “It is completely insane”.
The old guard makes way
True, the competition was not of the highest standard in terms of distance but as both three-time Olympic and World champion Jan Zelezny, 38, and four-time European gold medallist Steve Backley, 35, explained the discipline is under going a generational change.
"I think the younger generation of throwers are coming up, I feel that,” confirmed Zelezny the day before the final. “I do not want to say that the older throwers will not be able to make good competitions anymore, but next year will see the final transition, that is my opinion."
The World record holder’s statement was echoed by Backley after the final. ”There are youngsters in there (the final) this evening whose names people will not recognise,” said the Briton. “Thorkildsen beat me at Crystal Palace (London), and a few of my friends said to me ‘who was that guy?’. But I knew as I have been training with him for the last two years. I have been showing him the ways, and I have obviously taught him too well. So yes, there is a great generational change in process.”
Half of the top eight finishers, including two of the medallists were born in 1982, and the youngest of these Tero Pitkämäki of Finland is only 21. Set alongside that statistic, all the men who have thrown 90 metres in the history of the ‘new’ specification are now in their 30’s and have either retired, or are about to depart the sport.
90m throwing will soon return
So we should read little into Thorkildsen’s 86.50 being the lowest winning Olympic throw with the ‘new spear’, with the exception of the inaugural competition in 1988. It is only a matter of time before the spectacle of 90 metres throwing returns to this event.
Thorkildsen is the World Junior record holder, and only four years ago took the World Junior silver medal in Chile. His gold medal throw in Athens, which came in the second round was a personal best, as for that matter was the silver medal winner’s 84.95. Latvia’s Vadims Vasilevskis is also 22 years of age.
”I knew that I had a good throw in me but I did not expect it in these six throws today,” confirmed a surprised winner, whose father and mother were both good athletes. “My father Tomm was a 70m Javelin thrower (old spear), but perhaps more impressive is his 10.70 PB for the 100m, and my mother Bente (Amundsen) was a national champion sprint hurdler.”
No historian
Born in the town of Kristiansand, Norway, he joined the local club KIF Kristiansand as an eleven year-old but admits he knew little about the history of the sport.
When asked about fellow countryman Egil Danielsen’s Olympic victory in 1956, his honest reply is “no, he wasn’t a hero, I didn’t know about the history of the sport. I never really watched or followed the sport as a child.”
The 22 year-old has a straight forward technique which is very easy to sustain under the pressure of major championship. “All Andreas (Thorkildsen) needs to do is run straight at it, keep his arm in the right position. It is as simple as that. There is very little to fall apart with his technique,” confirmed Backley’s coach John Trower.
Thorkildsen who took two IAAF Super Grand Prix wins this summer (Stockholm and London) was described by one of the Norwegian Olympic team leaders Ketil Tommernes, as “quite a relaxed young man,” but it wasn’t always like that, in fact in 2001 he was briefly suspended from the Norwegian team because of his behaviour.
Mature attitude
The 22 year-old has matured a lot. “He was a very arrogant man when we first met him,” confirmed Trower, “but now he would be the first person to recognise this fault. Andreas has matured a lot in the last few years, and that is shown by his temperament in the final today.”
Now competing for the club SK Vidar, Thorkildsen’s personal coach is Assmund Martinsen, and like everyone else he was surprised by his charge’s result.
”I hoped he could make a personal best, and to do it in the final is just remarkable. His temperament has become much better this year. We have been training with Backley in the last winter in South Africa, and Andreas has benefited greatly from the experience of mixing with him.”
Thorkildsen agrees with his coach’s assessment.
“Yes, the last two years with Backley have helped me a lot. He is a really good competitor. He taught me how to pull everything out in competition. It’s been a big inspiration going on training camps with him, and now he is retiring it is a bit of a shame.”
“I have only just begun to obtain an appreciation of the great athletes of the past during the last couple of years. I have started looking at the statistics of the sport, and what people have done. And yes, you are right, now people will hopefully be looking up the same details to find my name. It’s a strange feeling.”
Chris Turner
IAAF Editorial Manager
This story is a shortened version of a feature entitled - “It is completely insane” Thorkildsen is Olympic champion - which appears in the latest edition of the IAAF Magazine vol. 19, no.3, 2004 which has now been published.
Thorkildsen is currently the IAAF World Ranked Number One for his Event.
