Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The Men's Javelin Throw event at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium, Greece. The qualifying round was held on August 26, 2004, and the final on August 28, 2004 with the qualification mark set at 81.00 metres.

American Breaux Greer led the qualifying with 87.25 metres (286-3) but injured his sensitive knee in the process and would finish last in the final. The favorites were Jan Železný and Steve Backley again, along with Russian Sergey Makarov, the 2003 World Champion. Železný and Backley had had great careers but were now past their prime, Železný finishing ninth and Backley fourth, never in the medals.

Makarov also did not have his best day, only able to get the bronze medal. In round two, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen took the lead with 86.50 metres (283-9½) and that would be good enough for the gold medal. Nobody else could get over 85 metres. He had no major international credentials, although in 2001 he had set the world junior record with 83.87 metres (275-2). Track & Field News quoted Thorkildsen as saying, “If you had said the words ‘Olympic champion’ to me yesterday, I wouldn’t have believed you. But now it sounds great.”

Medalists

Gold	Andreas Thorkildsen Norway (NOR)
Silver	Vadims Vasiļevskis Latvia (LAT)
Bronze	Sergey Makarov Russia (RUS)

Schedule

• All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+2)

Qualification Round
Group A	Group B
26.08.2004 – 20:05h	26.08.2004 – 21:50h
Final Round
28.08.2004 – 20:40h

Abbreviations

Q	automatic qualification
q	qualification by rank
DNS	did not start
NM	no mark
OR	olympic record
WR	world record
AR	area record
NR	national record
PB	personal best
SB	season best

Records

Standing records prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics
World Record	Jan Železný (CZE)	98.48 m	May 25, 1996	Jena, Germany
Olympic Record	Jan Železný (CZE)	90.17 m	September 23, 2000	Sydney, Australia

Qualification

Group A

Rank	Athlete	Attempts			Distance	Note
		1	2	3
1	Breaux Greer (USA)	87.25	—	—	87.25 m	Q
2	Sergey Makarov (RUS)	86.08	—	—	86.08 m	Q
3	Esko Mikkola (FIN)	83.64	—	—	83.64 m	Q
4	Andrus Värnik (EST)	83.25	—	—	83.25 m	Q
5	Matti Närhi (FIN)	81.06	—	—	81.06 m	Q
6	Steve Backley (GBR)	80.60	80.68	80.39	80.68 m	q
7	Gerhardus Pienaar (RSA)	79.95	74.69	79.56	79.95 m
8	Christian Nicolay (GER)	79.77	X	78.50	79.77 m
9	Voldemārs Lūsis (LAT)	79.27	X	X	79.27 m
10	William Hamlyn-Harris (AUS)	69.64	74.34	77.43	77.43 m
11	Peter Zupanc (SLO)	74.11	72.42	77.34	77.34 m
12	Miroslav Guzdek (CZE)	76.45	75.36	75.75	76.45 m
13	Gergely Horváth (HUN)	73.45	73.95	72.05	73.95 m
14	Ronny Nilsen (NOR)	X	73.46	X	73.46 m
15	Manuel Fuenmayor (VEN)	72.26	68.72	72.14	72.26 m
16	David Brisseault (FRA)	68.70	71.86	69.58	71.86 m
17	Marián Bokor (SVK)	68.21	71.74	67.73	71.74 m

Group B

Rank	Athlete	Attempts			Distance	Note
		1	2	3
1	Vadims Vasiļevskis (LAT)	84.43	—	—	84.43 m	Q / PB
2	Alexandr Ivanov (RUS)	82.18	—	—	82.18 m	Q
3	Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)	82.04	—	—	82.04 m	Q
4	Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)	81.74	—	—	81.74 m	Q
5	Jan Železný (CZE)	81.18	—	—	81.18 m	Q
6	Ēriks Rags (LAT)	77.92	80.84	X	80.84 m	q
7	Isbel Luaces (CUB)	80.07	77.53	79.07	80.07 m
8	Li Rongxiang (CHN)	79.73	X	79.94	79.94 m
9	Yukifumi Murakami (JPN)	77.25	77.60	78.59	78.59 m
10	Oliver Dziubak (AUS)	77.21	78.53	75.57	78.53 m
11	Peter Esenwein (GER)	75.18	73.76	78.41	78.41 m
12	Sergey Voynov (UZB)	74.68	74.08	72.71	74.68 m
13	Stuart Farquhar (NZL)	74.24	73.07	74.63	74.63 m
14	Nick Nieland (GBR)	68.86	71.31	72.79	72.79 m
15	Park Jae-Myong (KOR)	63.01	67.60	72.70	72.70 m
16	Edi Ponoš (CRO)	66.73	X	71.43	71.43 m
—	Boris Henry (GER)	—	—	—	DNS

Final Ranking

Rank	Athlete	Distance	Group
1	Breaux Greer (USA)	87.25 m	A
2	Sergey Makarov (RUS)	86.08 m	A
3	Vadims Vasiļevskis (LAT)	84.43 m	B
4	Esko Mikkola (FIN)	83.64 m	A
5	Andrus Värnik (EST)	83.25 m	A
6	Alexandr Ivanov (RUS)	82.18 m	B
7	Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)	82.04 m	B
8	Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)	81.74 m	B
9	Jan Železný (CZE)	81.18 m	B
10	Matti Närhi (FIN)	81.06 m	A
11	Ēriks Rags (LAT)	80.84 m	B
12	Steve Backley (GBR)	80.68 m	A
13	Isbel Luaces (CUB)	80.07 m	B
14	Gerhardus Pienaar (RSA)	79.95 m	A
15	Li Rongxiang (CHN)	79.94 m	B
16	Christian Nicolay (GER)	79.77 m	A
17	Voldemārs Lūsis (LAT)	79.27 m	A
18	Yukifumi Murakami (JPN)	78.59 m	B
19	Oliver Dziubak (AUS)	78.53 m	B
20	Peter Esenwein (GER)	78.41 m	B
21	William Hamlyn-Harris (AUS)	77.43 m	A
22	Peter Zupanc (SLO)	77.34 m	A
23	Miroslav Guzdek (CZE)	76.45 m	A
24	Sergey Voynov (UZB)	74.68 m	B
25	Stuart Farquhar (NZL)	74.63 m	B
26	Gergely Horváth (HUN)	73.95 m	A
27	Ronny Nilsen (NOR)	73.46 m	A
28	Nick Nieland (GBR)	72.79 m	B
29	Park Jae-Myong (KOR)	72.70 m	B
30	Manuel Fuenmayor (VEN)	72.26 m	A
31	David Brisseault (FRA)	71.86 m	A
32	Marián Bokor (SVK)	71.74 m	A
33	Edi Ponoš (CRO)	71.43 m	B
—	Boris Henry (GER)	DNS	B

Final

Rank	Athlete	Attempts						Distance	Note
		1	2	3	4	5	6
1 !	Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)	84.82	86.50	80.96	X	—	—	86.50 m	PB
2 !	Vadims Vasiļevskis (LAT)	84.95	83.95	X	X	79.07	80.91	84.95 m	PB
3 !	Sergey Makarov (RUS)	84.84	X	77.59	78.00	82.51	84.32	84.84 m
4	Steve Backley (GBR)	79.62	81.48	84.13	83.02	X	81.62	84.13 m	SB
5	Alexandr Ivanov (RUS)	83.31	82.76	81.36	80.28	78.07	79.99	83.31 m
6	Andrus Värnik (EST)	83.25	82.72	X	X	76.41	—	83.25 m
7	Ēriks Rags (LAT)	77.13	83.14	81.69	X	X	78.63	83.14 m
8	Tero Pitkämäki (FIN)	80.38	83.01	X	X	81.19	X	83.01 m
9	Jan Železný (CZE)	76.77	79.98	80.59				80.59 m
10	Matti Närhi (FIN)	X	80.28	78.73				80.28 m
11	Esko Mikkola (FIN)	76.20	79.43	76.23				79.43 m
12	Breaux Greer (USA)	74.36	X	X				74.36 m

See also

• 2002 Men's European Championships Javelin Throw (Munich)
• 2003 Men's World Championships Javelin Throw (Paris)
• 2004 Javelin Throw Year Ranking
• 2005 Men's World Championships Javelin Throw (Helsinki)
• 2006 Men's European Championships Javelin Throw (Gothenburg)

References

• Official Olympic Report
• 2004 Olympic Results