Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

Men's javelin throw at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Dates	October 15 (qualifications) October 16 (final)
Competitors	29 from 20 nations
Medalists
Jānis Lūsis  Soviet Union Jorma Kinnunen  Finland Gergely Kulcsár  Hungary

The Men's Javelin Throw event at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place on October 15–16 at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The qualifying standard was 80 m (262 ft 5+1⁄2 in).

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record	Jānis Lūsis	91.98 m	Saarijarvi, Finland	June 23, 1968
Olympic record	Egil Danielsen (NOR)	85.71 m	Melbourne, Australia	November 26, 1956

Results

Qualifying round

Rank	Series	Athlete	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
1	A	Karl-Åke Nilsson	Sweden	x	x	84.74	84.74	Q
2	A	Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union	83.68			83.68	Q
3	A	Jorma Kinnunen	Finland	x	74.16	83.16	83.16	Q
4	B	Walter Pektor	Austria	82.16			82.16	Q
5	A	Manfred Stolle	East Germany	81.88			81.88	Q
6	A	Gergely Kulcsár	Hungary	81.56			81.56	Q
7	A	Mark Murro	United States	74.14	81.14		81.14	Q
8	A	Władysław Nikiciuk	Poland	74.16	78.22	81.00	81.00	Q
9	A	Urs von Wartburg	Switzerland	76.58	80.66		80.66	Q
10	A	Janusz Sidlo	Poland	74.90	80.12		80.12	Q
11	B	Aurelio Janet	Cuba	80.10			80.10	Q
12	A	Hermann Salomon	West Germany	79.48	x	76.50	79.48	q
13	A	Rolf Herings	West Germany	79.08	77.00	78.70	79.08
14	A	Pauli Nevala	Finland	x	77.90	x	77.90
15	A	Mart Paama	Soviet Union	74.18	77.26	74.64	77.26
16	B	Klaus Wolfermann	West Germany	75.78	71.40	75.02	75.78
17	B	Miklós Németh	Hungary	74.56	74.82	75.50	75.50
18	B	Dave Travis	Great Britain	74.24	74.36	70.84	74.36
19	B	Lode Wyns	Belgium	73.68	x	x	73.68
20	B	Gary Stenlund	United States	73.52	68.88	71.44	73.52
21	A	Frank Covelli	United States	70.30	x	73.04	73.04
22	B	William Heikkila	Canada	70.10	71.20	70.78	71.20
23	B	Nashatar Singh Sidhu	Malaysia	x	63.58	70.70	70.70
24	B	Rolf Hoppe	Chile	68.32	65.82	65.86	68.32
25	B	Viliame Liga	Fiji	x	61.62	62.32	62.32
26	B	Donald Velez	Nicaragua	48.92	x	61.32	61.32
27	B	Rolf Bühler	Switzerland	61.06	x	x	61.06
	B	Samsam Akka	Morocco				DNS
	B	Panagiotis Pierrakos	Greece				DNS

Finals

The eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	1	2	3	4	5	6	Result
	Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union	81.74	86.34	82.66	84.40	x	90.10	90.10 OR
	Jorma Kinnunen	Finland	86.30	x	x	79.00	85.82	88.58	88.58
	Gergely Kulcsár	Hungary	83.10	x	83.82	87.06	85.14	83.40	87.06
4	Władysław Nikiciuk	Poland	x	85.70	82.24	x	82.32	80.44	85.70
5	Manfred Stolle	East Germany	x	76.86	81.52	84.42	x	79.72	84.42
6	Karl-Ake Nilsson	Sweden	83.48	x	x	x	76.74	79.76	83.48
7	Janusz Sidło	Poland	80.00	76.36	80.58	75.50	77.86	76.46	80.58
8	Urs von Wartburg	Switzerland	80.56	77.06	77.22	x	x	x	80.56
9	Mark Murro	United States	80.06	80.08	x				80.08
10	Walter Pektor	Austria	75.64	77.40	x				77.40
11	Aurelio Janet	Cuba	x	74.88	x				74.88
12	Hermann Salomon	West Germany	x	71.64	73.50				73.50