Jan Železný

Jan Železný

Personal information
Nationality	Czech
Born	(1966-06-16) 16 June 1966 (age 55) Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb; 13.7 st)
Sport
Country	Czechoslovakia (1987–1992) Czech Republic (1993–2006)
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Javelin Throw
Turned pro	1986
Retired	2006
Now coaching	Vítězslav Veselý
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	WR 98.48 m (1996)
hide Medal record Men’s athletics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 1 0 World Championships 3 0 2 European Championships 0 0 2 Total 6 1 4 Representing  Czechoslovakia Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Javelin 1992 Barcelona Javelin World Championships 1987 Rome Javelin Representing  Czech Republic Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Javelin 2000 Sydney Javelin World Championships 1993 Stuttgart Javelin 1995 Gothenburg Javelin 1999 Seville Javelin 2001 Edmonton Javelin Goodwill Games 2001 Brisbane Javelin throw  European Championships 1994 Helsinki Javelin 2006 Gothenburg Javelin
Updated on 6 July 2012.

Jan Železný (Czech pronunciation: [jan ˈʒɛlɛzniː] (listen); born 16 June 1966) is a retired Czech track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was a World and Olympic Champion and holds the world record with a throw of 98.48 m. Widely considered to be the greatest javelin thrower of the modern era, he also has the third, fourth and fifth best performances of all time. Železný broke the world record a total of 4 times.^[1]

Biography[]

Železný was born in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia. He won the gold at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic Games and silver in the 1988 Olympics as well as three World Championship titles; in 1993, 1995 and 2001.

Železný holds the world record, at 98.48 metres (323 ft 1 in) set in 1996, and the World Championships record of 92.80 m, set in 2001. On 26 March 1997 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Železný threw over the 90m barrier five times in a single meeting. Until September 2020, Železný was also the only athlete to throw more than 95 meters with the new type of javelin, something he achieved three times.^[1]

During his career he had many great battles against the likes of Steve Backley, Sergey Makarov, Boris Henry, Seppo Räty, Raymond Hecht and Aki Parviainen.

He planned to retire after the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, where he won the bronze with a throw of 85.92 m. He took leave of his career on 19 September 2006 on exhibition in Mladá Boleslav, the place where he started with athletics.

He coaches Vítězslav Veselý,^[2] and is the former coach of Barbora Špotáková.^[3]

International competitions[]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Czechoslovakia
1983	European Junior Championships	Schwechat, Austria	6th	Javelin (old)	71.26 m
1985	European Junior Championships	Cottbus, East Germany	4th	Javelin (old)	75.10 m
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	18th (q)	Javelin	75.90 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	Javelin	82.20 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	Javelin	84.12 m
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	13th (q)	Javelin	77.64 m
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	18th (q)	Javelin	76.26 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	1st	Javelin	89.66 m
Representing the  Czech Republic
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	Javelin	85.98 m
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	3rd	Javelin	82.58 m
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	Javelin	89.58 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	1st	Javelin	88.16 m
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	9th	Javelin	82.04 m
1999	World Championships	Seville, Spain	3rd	Javelin	87.67 m
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	1st	Javelin	90.17 m
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	1st	Javelin	92.80 m
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	Javelin	87.52 m
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	11th	Javelin	NM
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	4th	Javelin	84.09 m
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	9th	Javelin	80.59 m
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	Javelin	85.92 m

See also[]

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of European records in athletics

References[]