| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Men

Date	2 – 3 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants	23 from 15 countries

Defending champion Jānis Lūsis was again heavily favored, having won the last four European Championships. Nobody had approached him all year, and he had broken the world record in July. Lūsis led off with 88.88 (291-7¼) in round one to take the lead and held it until round five, with an improvement to 89.54 (293-9¼) in the third round. But in round five, the relatively unheralded German, Klaus Wolfermann threw 90.48 (296-10¼) to take the top spot. In the final round, Lūsis made a supreme effort to hold onto to his title, but came up two centimeters short – 90.46 (296-9½). This did give him a complete set of medals in the javelin, having won bronze in 1964.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	412	Klaus Wolfermann	FRG	86.22 (1)	90.48 (1)	Gold	OR
2	946	Jānis Lūsis	URS	82.92 (2)	90.46 (2)	Silver
3	1010	Bill Schmidt	USA	78.96 (10)	84.42 (3)	Bronze
4	221	Hannu Siitonen	FIN	81.80 (3)	84.32 (4)
5	679	Bjørn Grimnes	NOR	77.54 (12)	83.08 (5)
6	209	Jorma Kinnunen	FIN	80.10 (7)	82.08 (6)
7	464	Miklós Németh	HUN	81.78 (4)	81.98 (7)
8	996	Fred Luke	USA	81.34 (5)	80.06 (8)
9	350	Manfred Stolle	GDR	80.78 (6)	79.32 (9)
10	1020	Milt Sonsky	USA	79.96 (8)	77.94 (10)
11	269	Lolésio Tuita	FRA	78.78 (11)	76.34 (11)
12	452	József Csík	HUN	79.08 (9)	76.14 (12)
13 r1/2	89	Rick Dowswell	CAN	77.42 (13)	–
14 r1/2	460	Gergely Kulcsár	HUN	77.24 (14)	–
15 r1/2	834	Urs von Wartburg	SUI	76.36 (15)	–
16 r1/2	87	André Claude	CAN	75.56 (16)	–
17 r1/2	313	Dave Travis	GBR	74.68 (17)	–
18 r1/2	364	Günter Glasauer	FRG	73.12 (18)	–
19 r1/2	114	Jacques Abehi Ayé	CIV	72.20 (19)	–
20 r1/2	512	Renzo Cramerotti	ITA	71.12 (20)	–
21 r1/2	651	Don Vélez	NCA	63.74 (21)	–
22 r1/2	17	Abdul Atif Al-Qahtani	KSA	53.06 (22)	–
AC r1/2	216	Leo Pusa	FIN	– (NM)	–

Qualifying Round (2 September 1972 — 10:00)

Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 80.00 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Athlete	NOC	Distance
1	Klaus Wolfermann	FRG	86.22	Q
2	Jānis Lūsis	URS	82.92	Q
3	Hannu Siitonen	FIN	81.80	Q
4	Miklós Németh	HUN	81.78	Q
5	Fred Luke	USA	81.34	Q
6	Manfred Stolle	GDR	80.78	Q
7	Jorma Kinnunen	FIN	80.10	Q
8	Milt Sonsky	USA	79.96	q
9	József Csík	HUN	79.08	q
10	Bill Schmidt	USA	78.96	q
11	Lolésio Tuita	FRA	78.78	q
12	Bjørn Grimnes	NOR	77.54	q
13	Rick Dowswell	CAN	77.42
14	Gergely Kulcsár	HUN	77.24
15	Urs von Wartburg	SUI	76.36
16	André Claude	CAN	75.56
17	Dave Travis	GBR	74.68
18	Günter Glasauer	FRG	73.12
19	Jacques Abehi Ayé	CIV	72.20
20	Renzo Cramerotti	ITA	71.12
21	Don Vélez	NCA	63.74
22	Abdul Atif Al-Qahtani	KSA	53.06
NM	Leo Pusa	FIN	–

Qualifying Round, Group A (2 September 1972)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group A Round One	Group A Round Two	Group A Round Three
1	11	Klaus Wolfermann	FRG	86.22	86.22	-	-
2	3	Hannu Siitonen	FIN	81.80	81.80	-	-
3	1	Fred Luke	USA	81.34	81.34	-	-
4	10	Jorma Kinnunen	FIN	80.10	80.10	-	-
5	6	Bill Schmidt	USA	78.96	75.28	75.90	78.96
6	2	Lolésio Tuita	FRA	78.78	75.36	78.78	77.34
7	9	Bjørn Grimnes	NOR	77.54	×	77.54	×
8	4	Gergely Kulcsár	HUN	77.24	×	×	77.24
9	12	André Claude	CAN	75.56	75.56	×	×
10	7	Renzo Cramerotti	ITA	71.12	71.12	×	×
11	8	Abdul Atif Al-Qahtani	KSA	53.06	×	×	53.06

Qualifying Round, Group B (2 September 1972)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group B Round One	Group B Round Two	Group B Round Three
1	4	Jānis Lūsis	URS	82.92	82.92	-	-
2	3	Miklós Németh	HUN	81.78	70.90	81.78	-
3	1	Manfred Stolle	GDR	80.78	80.78	-	-
4	9	Milt Sonsky	USA	79.96	79.96	78.78	74.24
5	8	József Csík	HUN	79.08	79.08	×	×
6	2	Rick Dowswell	CAN	77.42	66.54	72.52	77.42
7	7	Urs von Wartburg	SUI	76.36	76.36	×	76.20
8	6	Dave Travis	GBR	74.68	74.68	70.10	74.30
9	10	Günter Glasauer	FRG	73.12	×	×	73.12
10	12	Jacques Abehi Ayé	CIV	72.20	72.20	×	×
11	11	Don Vélez	NCA	63.74	×	63.74	×
NM	5	Leo Pusa	FIN	–	×	×	×

Final Round (3 September 1972 — 15:30)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
1	7	Klaus Wolfermann	FRG	90.48	86.68	85.14	×	88.40	90.48	84.70	OR
2	4	Jānis Lūsis	URS	90.46	88.88	×	89.54	×	81.66	90.46
3	3	Bill Schmidt	USA	84.42	75.96	84.42	×	79.92	84.12	×
4	1	Hannu Siitonen	FIN	84.32	84.32	×	×	×	×	×
5	8	Bjørn Grimnes	NOR	83.08	71.86	82.38	83.08	×	×	×
6	12	Jorma Kinnunen	FIN	82.08	×	82.08	75.76	×	×	77.60
7	5	Miklós Németh	HUN	81.98	80.80	81.98	78.58	81.88	×	81.40
8	11	Fred Luke	USA	80.06	66.64	×	80.06	79.70	71.46	×
9	2	Manfred Stolle	GDR	79.32	×	×	79.32	–	–	–
10	9	Milt Sonsky	USA	77.94	77.62	77.94	72.38	–	–	–
11	6	Lolésio Tuita	FRA	76.34	76.34	×	69.38	–	–	–
12	10	József Csík	HUN	76.14	75.52	76.14	×	–	–	–