Miklos NEMETH

The son of 1948 Olympic hammer throw champion Imre Németh, Miklós Németh had a long athletics career, as he was on the Hungarian national team from 1965-81. Initially a high jumper, he switched to javelin in his teens after a serious injury. His career highlight came at the 1976 Olympics, where he won a gold medal with a world record of 94.58, thrown in the first round of the final. At the 1976 Olympics, Németh was not considered a favorite, although he had been ranked as the #1 javelin thrower in the world in 1975, because he had never before medaled at major international tournament. Besides his Olympic gold, he won javelin gold at the 1970 Universiade, and also competed at four European Championships (1966, 1971, 1974 and 1978), with a best finish of fifth in 1966. Németh was four times Hungarian champion (1973, 1980, 1981 and 1983) and was ranked as the #1 javelin thrower in the world three years in a row from 1975-77. In 1976 he was elected as the Hungarian Sportsman of the Year and from 1975-77 he was named as the Hungarian Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

After finishing his sporting career, Németh remained active in athletics field as a coach, organizer and inventor. From 1981-84, he was the throwing coach of the Italian national women’s team and coached such javelin stars as Tessa Sanderson and Jan Železný. From 1977-85, he was the main organizer of the Budapest Athletics Grand Prix and in 1991 was elected as vice-president of the Hungarian Athletics Federation. In 1986 Németh invented a training device called Body Roll. In 1987 he designed a new type of javelin, with a serrated tail, and Železný (89.66) and Steve Backley (90.98) set two world records with this model in 1990, but the IAAF banned it in 1991. The next year, Németh designed another new model javelin and Železný threw it 94.74 m, which was more than three metres better than the existing world record, but as the javelin was never ratified by the IAAF, the mark was not ratified. Németh continued to be the leading javelin designer of the world throughout 1990s and 2000s with his company, Németh Javelins. In 2000, Németh founded a company Németh & Partners, which supplied artificial turf for indoor sporting facilities.

Personal Best: JT – 94.58 (1976).