Tokyo Olympics: Rule changes, dimensions, record holders – Everything you need to know about the evolution of Javelin Throw | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: It was the year 1984 when German legend Uwe Hohn threw a distance of 104.80 metres during the Olympic Day of Athletics competition at Berlin.
With this majestic throw, Hohn had shattered the then world record of 99.72m, set by Tom Petranoff of the US in 1983. Hohn still remains the only man to have thrown the javelin over 100m. And that record, experts say, will never be broken.
This is how Hohn’s record became ‘eternal’.
Hohn’s record shattering throw made administrators sit up and realise that they had to do something to shorten the distances that the javelin was being thrown to by the male throwers.
As a result of this, the men’s javelin was redesigned in 1986, such that the centre of gravity was moved 4 cm (1.5748 inches) forward. The step was mainly taken because the male throwers were in danger of crossing the space available for the javelin throw in stadiums and entering the track space, thereby endangering other athletes and officials.

What this also did was negate frequent flat and ambiguous landings that were becoming a big headache for the officials measuring distances on the field. The javelin, due to its previous length, centre of gravity, etc., would often not sink into the ground after landing.
With the redesigned javelin, the nose began coming down earlier and more steeply, therefore reducing distances thrown by almost 10%.
As a result of this redesign there were new records that had to be registered from then on, with the redesigned javelin. Hohn’s monster record of 104.80m therefore became immortal.
No javelin thrower has been able to touch the triple-figure mark after the introduction of the new javelin design.
Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic holds the current world record (with the redesigned javelin) of 98.48 metres. Four-time Olympic medallist Zelezny achieved the milestone in 1996.

World No. 1 Johannes Vetter of Germany threw a majestic 97.76m in 2020, but failed to beat Zelezny’s record. Vetter, who finished 9th at the Tokyo Olympics, is second on the overall world record holders’ list.
The women’s javelin was redesigned meanwhile in 1999.
JAVELIN:
WEIGHT & HEIGHT (Men’s javelin): The men’s javelin(spear) must weigh at least 800g and should be 2.6m-2.7m long
WEIGHT & HEIGHT (Women’s javelin): The women’s javelin (spear) must weigh 600g and should be 2.2m-2.3m long.
TOP 10 BEST JAVELIN THROWS IN THE WORLD (MEN’S SENIOR OUTDOOR JAVELIN THROW) – WITH REDESIGNED JAVELIN
98.48 m – Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic – May 1996 (World Record)
97.76 m – Johannes Vetter of Germany – September 2020
93.90 m – Thomas Rohler of Germany – May 2017
93.09 m – Aki Parviainen of Finland – June 1999
92.72 m – Julius Yego of Kenya – August 2015
92.61 m – Sergey Makarov of Russia – June 2002
92.60m – Raymond Hecht of Germany – July 1995
92.06 m – Andreas Hofmann of Germany – June 2018
91.69 m – Konstadinos Gatsioudis of Greece – June 2000
91.59 m – Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway – June 2006