Andreas Thorkildsen was born in Kristiansand into a family of track and field athletes. His father Tomm Thorkildsen was a decent javelin thrower with a personal best of 71.64 in 1974. His mother Bente (born Amundsen) was 1974 Norwegian champion in the 100 hurdles. Andreas started as a javelin thrower at age 11, coached by his father, and showed great talent, breaking Norwegian age group records seven times from 1995-2000. After finishing high school in 2001, he moved to Oslo and was coached by Asmund Martinsen. In June 2001 he broke the junior World Record, throwing 83.87 in Bergen. Later that year he competed in the World Championships, but performed poorly and ended up in last place. Two years later he placed 11th at the 2003 World Championships. At the 2004 Athens Olympics he surprised everybody by winning the gold medal with a throw of 86.50, a new personal record. Since then he has been one of the world’s leading javelin throwers, defending his Olympic title in Beijing. After the 2008 season he was selected as the European Athlete of the Year. He was World Champion in 2009, won the European title in 2006 and 2010, in addition, he has been runner-up three times at the World Championships, in 2005, 2007, and 2011. He has won eight Norwegian titles, and is the national record holder with 91.59 from the 2006 Bislett Games.
Personal Best: JT – 91.59 (2006).
Norway