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Finland’s reigning world champion Aki PARVIAINEN won the European Cup ‘A’ final in June with 92.41m, this year’s longest throw. A former world junior champion, PARVIAINEN had a disappointing Olympic Games, finishing ‘only’ fifth. But this season he has made significant alterations to his technique and has backed up his leading mark with two other 88 metre-plus competitions, although he did miss the London Grand Prix with a minor injury.
Greece’s Kostas GATSIOUDIS, who took the world silver behind PARVIAINEN in 1999, produced the second longest throw of the year, 91.27m, in Madrid in late May. Like PARVIAINEN, the 1997 world bronze medallist had a below par Sydney Olympics, finishing sixth. This season he has been the most consistent of the world’s top throwers with another nine competitions over 86 metres, including a home victory over PARVIAINEN in Athens on 11 June, and a European Cup victory over Russia’s Olympic bronze medallist Sergey MAKAROV, whose own season’s best is 88.42m.
The world’s greatest ever javelin thrower Jan ZELEZNY of the Czech Republic is third on the world lists with 91.24m. The world record holder and three time Olympic champion, ZELEZNY has also won the world title twice and finished an heroic third in 1999 having undergone major surgery the previous winter. This summer ZELEZNY sustained an early season loss to PARVIAINEN in the Golden Javelin meeting – 84.13m to 82.83m – but in torrential rain a month later in Helsinki he got his revenge with a resounding victory – 86.84m to 81.66m.
Second and third behind the Olympic champion in Lausanne were two of this season’s fastest improving throwers Latvia’s Eriks RAGS and USA Champion Breaux GREER with 84.59m and 83.32m respectively. RAGS leapt to 10th on the world list with a national record of 86.47m to finish second in London on 22 July, while GREER also improved his personal best in that competition to 85.91m.
However, it was Britain’s Steve BACKLEY who won in London with 90.81m, the fourth longest of the year and the three time European champion’s first 90 metre-plus throw since 1992. The Olympic silver medallist, BACKLEY’s earlier season performances had not shown anything like that promise, an 87 metre and two 84 metre competitions being his next best.
Other medal contenders include the three Germans Peter BLANK, Raymond HECHT and Boris HENRY, who have all thrown long this summer; Finland’s former world junior record holder Harri HAATAINEN; Norway’s stunning new world junior record breaker Andreas THORKILDSEN; and Poland’s Dariusz TRAFAS.
