History Of The Javelin Throw

Last time on our Top List of The Highest paid Athletes, we said we would get to know how some of the Olympic Games came to be and this is why we shall shift our focus on Javelin for today in order to understand its relevance in the Olympic Games.

The javelin throw was a game developed in ancient Greece whose idea was derived from the tactics employed from hunting and war (Being lighter than the spear, the javelin would be thrown and thus allowed long distance attacks against enemy forces).The ancient Olympics had two forms of the javelin event:

• To throw the javelin the farthest distance
• To hit a specific target with the javelin

The javelin was made of wood, about as long as a man is tall and had either a metal tip or a sharpened end point. The thrower held the javelin by his fingers using a leather thong attached to the pole’s center of gravity. The thong was meant to improve the thrower’s aim, precision and distance. In ancient Greece, javelin throwers competed while riding horses, which served to further increase the skill required in the sport

Unlike other throwing events, javelin allows the competitor to build speed over a considerable distance. In addition to the core and upper body strength necessary to deliver and implement, javelin throwers benefit from the agility and athleticism typically associated with running and jumping events. The athletes thus share more physical characteristics with sprinters than with the other heavier throwing athletes.

Traditional free-weight training is often used by javelin throwers. Metal-rod exercises and resistance band exercises can be used to train a similar action to the javelin throw to increase power and intensity. Without proper strength and flexibility, throwers can become injury prone; especially in the shoulder and elbow. Core stability can help in the transference of physical power and force from the ground through the body and to the javelin. Stretching and sprint training are also used to enhance the speed of the athlete at the point of release. At release, a javelin can reach speeds approaching 113 km/h (70 mph).

Competition rules are similar to other throwing events: a round consists of one attempt by each competitor in turn, and competitions typically consist of three to six rounds. The competitor with the longest single legal throw (over all rounds) is the winner; in the case of a tie the competitors’ second-longest throws are also considered. Competitions involving large numbers of athletes sometimes use a “cut”: all competitors compete in the first three rounds but only athletes who are currently among the top eight or have achieved some minimum distances are permitted to attempt to improve on their distance in the remaining rounds (typically three).

A throw is legal only if the tip of the javelin lands within a sector and its tip strikes the ground before any other part of the javelin. The distance of the throw is measured from the throwing arc to the point where the tip of the javelin landed rounded down to the nearest centimeter.

For the men, the best thrower of all time is 46 year old Jan Zelezny from Czech Republic

who placed a record of 98.48 meters in 25/5/1996.

For the women, the best thrower of all time is 31 year old Barbora Spotakova from Czech Republic

who placed a record of 72.28 meters in 13/9/2008.

Czech Republic is the dominant player when it comes to the Javelin Throw since both of the world record holders from either sex come from Czech Republic. (So far)

(The Javelin throw is one of the very first original events in the Olympic Games)