| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Men

Date	21 – 23 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Tiyuchang, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	38 from 29 countries

The favorite was Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen, the defending Olympic and European Champion. In the technically difficult event he had been consistent over the past few years, winning silver at 2005 and 2007 World Championships. Thorkildsen led after round one with 84.72 (277-11), and produced the longest throw in each of the first three rounds, improving to 85.91 (281-10) and then 87.93 (286-10). The third-round mark would be enough to secure the gold medal, although he improved again in round five with the best mark of the competition, 90.57 (297-1). The battle for the other medals came down to two Finns, Tero Pitämäki and Tero Järvenpää and Latvian Ainārs Kovals. Järvenpää and Pitämäki were 2-3 thru the first three rounds, but Pitämäki moved ahead with a fourth-round throw of 85.83 (281-7). In the final round, Kovals threw a personal best of 86.64 (284-3) to take the silver medal and knock Järvenpää off the podium.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	2533	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	79.85 (9)	90.57 (1)	Gold
2	2332	Ainārs Kovals	LAT	80.15 (7)	86.64 (2)	Silver
3	1689	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.61 (3)	86.16 (3)	Bronze
4	1697	Tero Järvenpää	FIN	82.34 (4)	83.95 (4)
5	1708	Teemu Wirkkala	FIN	79.79 (10)	83.46 (5)
6	1063	Jarrod Bannister	AUS	79.79 (11)	83.45 (6)
7	2810	Ilya Korotkov	RUS	83.33 (2)	83.15 (7)
8	1193	Uladzimir Kazlou	BLR	80.06 (8)	82.06 (8)
9	2341	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	83.51 (1)	81.32 (9)
10	1296	Scott Russell	CAN	80.42 (6)	80.90 (10)
11	2958	Magnus Arvidsson	SWE	79.70 (12)	80.16 (11)
12	1529	Vítězslav Veselý	CZE	81.20 (5)	76.76 (12)
13 r1/2	2338	Ēriks Rags	LAT	79.33 (13)	–
14 r1/2	2852	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	79.27 (14)	–
15 r1/2	2216	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.21 (15)	–
16 r1/2	2584	Igor Janik	POL	77.63 (16)	–
17 r1/2	2298	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	76.63 (17)	–
18 r1/2	3233	Leigh Smith	USA	76.55 (18)	–
19 r1/2	2728	John Robert Oosthuizen	RSA	76.16 (19)	–
20 r1/2	2541	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	76.14 (20)	–
21 r1/2	1640	Mihkel Kukk	EST	75.56 (21)	–
22 r1/2	3172	Breaux Greer	USA	73.68 (22)	–
23 r1/2	1358	Chen Qi	CHN	73.50 (23)	–
24 r1/2	1328	Ignacio Guerra	CHI	73.03 (24)	–
25 r1/2	3180	Mike Hazle	USA	72.75 (25)	–
26 r1/2	2794	Sergey Makarov	RUS	72.47 (26)	–
27 r1/2	1962	Giannis Smalios	GRE	71.87 (27)	–
28 r1/2	1493	Anier Boué	CUB	71.85 (28)	–
29 r1/2	3080	Roman Avramenko	UKR	71.64 (29)	–
30 r1/2	2555	Víctor Fatecha	PAR	71.58 (30)	–
31 r1/2	2878	Matija Kranjc	SLO	71.00 (31)	–
32 r1/2	1883	Stephan Steding	GER	70.05 (32)	–
33 r1/2	3300	Babur Shakirdzhanov	UZB	69.54 (33)	–
34 r1/2	1035	Pablo Pietrobelli	ARG	69.09 (34)	–
35 r1/2	1919	Alexander Vieweg	GER	67.49 (35)	–
36 r1/2	1270	Kolyo Neshev	BUL	66.00 (36)	–
37 r1/2	1038	Melik Janoyan	ARM	64.47 (37)	–
AC r1/2	1999	Csongor Olteán	HUN	– (NM)	–

Qualifying Round (21 August 2008)

Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 82.50 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Athlete	NOC	Distance	2nd Best
1	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	83.51	–	Q
2	Ilya Korotkov	RUS	83.33	–	Q
3	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.61	–	Q
4	Tero Järvenpää	FIN	82.34	–	q
5	Vítězslav Veselý	CZE	81.20	–	q
6	Scott Russell	CAN	80.42	–	q
7	Ainārs Kovals	LAT	80.15	–	q
8	Uladzimir Kazlou	BLR	80.06	–	q
9	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	79.85	–	q
10	Teemu Wirkkala	FIN	79.79	78.89	q
11	Jarrod Bannister	AUS	79.79	77.40	q
12	Magnus Arvidsson	SWE	79.70	–	q
13	Ēriks Rags	LAT	79.33	–
14	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	79.27	–
15	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.21	–
16	Igor Janik	POL	77.63	–
17	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	76.63	–
18	Leigh Smith	USA	76.55	–
19	John Robert Oosthuizen	RSA	76.16	–
20	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	76.14	–
21	Mihkel Kukk	EST	75.56	–
22	Breaux Greer	USA	73.68	–
23	Chen Qi	CHN	73.50	–
24	Ignacio Guerra	CHI	73.03	–
25	Mike Hazle	USA	72.75	–
26	Sergey Makarov	RUS	72.47	–
27	Giannis Smalios	GRE	71.87	–
28	Anier Boué	CUB	71.85	–
29	Roman Avramenko	UKR	71.64	–
30	Víctor Fatecha	PAR	71.58	–
31	Matija Kranjc	SLO	71.00	–
32	Stephan Steding	GER	70.05	–
33	Babur Shakirdzhanov	UZB	69.54	–
34	Pablo Pietrobelli	ARG	69.09	–
35	Alexander Vieweg	GER	67.49	–
36	Kolyo Neshev	BUL	66.00	–
37	Melik Janoyan	ARM	64.47	–
NM	Csongor Olteán	HUN	–	–

Qualifying Round, Group A (21 August 2008 — 10:10)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group A Round One	Group A Round Two	Group A Round Three
1	19	Scott Russell	CAN	80.42	80.42	-	–
2	13	Ainārs Kovals	LAT	80.15	×	×	80.15
3	2	Uladzimir Kazlou	BLR	80.06	77.07	80.06	78.41
4	6	Teemu Wirkkala	FIN	79.79	79.79	78.89	75.81
5	4	Jarrod Bannister	AUS	79.79	79.79	×	77.40
6	1	Magnus Arvidsson	SWE	79.70	79.70	75.35	76.07
7	14	Ēriks Rags	LAT	79.33	79.33	×	77.97
8	17	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.21	×	78.21	76.29
9	5	Igor Janik	POL	77.63	71.43	67.59	77.63
10	7	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	76.63	76.63	75.61	74.25
11	9	John Robert Oosthuizen	RSA	76.16	×	74.55	76.16
12	8	Breaux Greer	USA	73.68	73.68	-	–
13	12	Ignacio Guerra	CHI	73.03	71.07	71.35	73.03
14	11	Sergey Makarov	RUS	72.47	×	×	72.47
15	15	Anier Boué	CUB	71.85	71.29	71.85	×
16	10	Víctor Fatecha	PAR	71.58	70.59	71.58	68.79
17	16	Stephan Steding	GER	70.05	×	70.05	×
18	3	Babur Shakirdzhanov	UZB	69.54	69.54	66.29	68.29
NM	18	Csongor Olteán	HUN	–	×	×	×

Qualifying Round, Group B (21 August 2008 — 11:40)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group B Round One	Group B Round Two	Group B Round Three
1	14	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	83.51	83.51	–	–
2	12	Ilya Korotkov	RUS	83.33	79.13	83.33	–
3	7	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.61	×	82.61	–
4	17	Tero Järvenpää	FIN	82.34	77.76	82.34	–
5	18	Vítězslav Veselý	CZE	81.20	×	78.93	81.20
6	16	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	79.85	79.85	×	–
7	4	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	79.27	75.73	73.89	79.27
8	2	Leigh Smith	USA	76.55	×	74.18	76.55
9	3	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	76.14	76.14	75.51	73.87
10	6	Mihkel Kukk	EST	75.56	63.42	70.55	75.56
11	9	Chen Qi	CHN	73.50	73.50	×	×
12	19	Mike Hazle	USA	72.75	×	72.75	71.69
13	13	Giannis Smalios	GRE	71.87	×	71.87	67.39
14	11	Roman Avramenko	UKR	71.64	71.64	70.68	71.10
15	8	Matija Kranjc	SLO	71.00	71.00	×	×
16	10	Pablo Pietrobelli	ARG	69.09	58.04	66.95	69.09
17	15	Alexander Vieweg	GER	67.49	67.49	66.37	67.39
18	5	Kolyo Neshev	BUL	66.00	66.00	×	×
19	1	Melik Janoyan	ARM	64.47	×	×	64.47

Final Round (23 August 2008 — 19:10)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
1	10/8/8	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	90.57	84.72	85.91	87.93	85.13	90.57	–	OR
2	2/3/3	Ainārs Kovals	LAT	86.64	79.45	82.63	82.28	78.98	80.65	86.64
3	4/6/7	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	86.16	83.75	×	80.69	85.83	×	86.16
4	8/7/6	Tero Järvenpää	FIN	83.95	83.95	×	×	×	×	83.63
5	7/5/5	Teemu Wirkkala	FIN	83.46	×	73.90	83.46	×	-	78.23
6	12/4/4	Jarrod Bannister	AUS	83.45	83.45	80.59	82.20	-	-	–
7	5/2/2	Ilya Korotkov	RUS	83.15	82.54	×	76.84	82.15	×	83.15
8	9/1/1	Uladzimir Kazlou	BLR	82.06	82.06	77.57	74.09	×	×	75.36
9	3	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	81.32	76.75	×	81.32	–	–	–
10	6	Scott Russell	CAN	80.90	80.90	78.02	×	–	–	–
11	11	Magnus Arvidsson	SWE	80.16	79.85	79.57	80.16	–	–	–
12	1	Vítězslav Veselý	CZE	76.76	×	×	76.76	–	–	–