Javelin throw world records: A Czech duopoly

When it comes to the official javelin throw world record, Czech athletes reign supreme.

Legendary Czech athlete Jan Zelezny, a three-time world and Olympic champion, holds the men’s javelin throw world record, courtesy a massive 98.48m throw he registered in 1996 during an athletics meet in Germany.

Zelezny’s countrywoman Barbora Spotakova, meanwhile, holds the women’s javelin throw world record with a 72.28m attempt, which won her the gold medal at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart.

Here’s a closer look at both the marks:

Jan Zelezny (98.48m) - men’s javelin throw world record

Heading into the Jena Zeiss Meeting in the German city of Jena on May 25, 1996, Jan Zelezny was already the reigning Olympic and world champion.

Furthermore, the Czech ace was already in possession of the existing world record following a 95.66m attempt at Sheffield three years back.

With the competition being held at the historic Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, a venue which has often proven to be a happy hunting ground for javelin throwers, many expected Zelezny to better his own world record but few would have thought that he would add almost three metres on top.

The competition was a compact six-man field but two of them, Germany’s Raymond Hecht and Boris Henry, were considered Zelezny’s rivals at the time.

The Czech ace logged 87.76m with his first attempt and improved it to 92.88 in his second. The history-making throw came in his third attempt - an all-out effort which left Zelezny face down on the runway after finishing his throw.

Even before the scoreboard flashed 98.48m, everyone in the stadium knew the world record was shattered.

Among the cheering fans on the stands were Zelezny’s wife and children, with whom the Czech star had driven almost 350 km to Jena from his hometown near Prague.

Interestingly, Zelezny didn’t even have the Jena meet on his calendar for that year and it was a last-minute addition.

“On my first attempt I made a mess of my run-up but my second throw over 92m told me I could get the world record. The world record throw was not perfect technically. Hands, feet, shoulders, there were small things that could be improved everywhere,” Jan Zelezny would later go on to say about the iconic throw.

Jan Zelezny’s world record set at Jena still stands strong even after 25 years. Johannes Vetter’s 97.76m effort in 2020 at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Poland was perhaps the only time Zelezny’s record was even remotely threatened.

In fact, Zelezny boasts five of the top 10 throws recorded in men’s javelin, in its current format.

Men’s javelin throw record: Top 5

Barbora Spotakova (72.28m) - women’s javelin throw world record

Like Zelezny, Barbora Spotakova’s record-breaking throw also came in Germany.

Just a month prior to the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart Barbora Spotakova won the first of her two Olympic gold medals, at the Beijing Summer Games.

The Czech star’s winning throw of 71.42m at Beijing 2008 came tantalisingly close to toppling the erstwhile women’s javelin throw world record of 71.70m, held by Osleidys Menendez of Cuba since 2005.

At Stuttgart, though, Spotakova finally managed to break the world record.

A two-time defending champion heading into the IAAF World Athletics Final 2008, Barbora Spotakova shattered the record with her first attempt on a damp day at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on September 13, 2008.

Spotakova, who would go on to become a three-time world champion, sat out her next two attempts before closing the afternoon with an underwhelming 58.39m effort. But regardless, history had already been made.

The effort even came as a surprise to Spotakova.

“The world record, this is strange because I did not expect it, it's unbelievable. I did not feel very good this morning," Barbora Spotakova said shortly after the event.

Interestingly, Spotakova also mentioned Zelezny during her post-event interview.

“Jan Zelezny called me in Beijing when I threw the European record and he will be delighted that both javelin world records are held by Czech athletes,” Barbora Spotakova stated.

Women’s javelin throw record: Top 5

The eternal world record

Though Zelezny and Spotakova hold the current javelin throw world records, it’s to be noted that these are not the longest throws ever recorded.

For men’s javelin throw, the record books were reset after changes to the rules and equipment specifications introduced in 1986. It was again tweaked in 1991, resulting in certain throws from 1986 to 1991 being scrubbed from the record books.

The current record book for women’s javelin throw, meanwhile, takes into account the efforts since 1999 due to similar reasons.

The main reason behind it was an alteration in the specifications of a javelin first introduced in 1986.

Before the record books were reset, the world record in men’s javelin throw belonged to Uwe Hohn of Germany (East Germany at the time).

Hohn, who coached current Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra before Tokyo 2020, recorded a monstrous 104.80m at a Berlin meet in 1984. It was the first and only time that the 100m mark was breached in modern javelin throw history.

After the record books were refreshed in 1986, Uwe Hohn’s record was archived and is often referred to as the eternal world record.

Hohn’s effort in 1984 sort of underlines one of the many reasons behind the rule changes in 1986.

The average throws, especially in men’s javelin, had been consistently increasing over the years and were reaching dangerous distances. The authorities considered this as a safety issue in many venues across the world.

Hence, the javelin was redesigned and its centre of gravity was moved forward by 4cm, which caused the javelin to dip faster during flight and cover lesser distances. Other technical aspects also contributed to the redesign.

Before the reset in 1999, the women’s world record belonged to Petra Felke, another German, who logged an 80.0m attempt during an athletics meet at Potsdam.