| Date | 4 August 1932 — 14:30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 13 from 7 countries | |
| Format | Final only. | |
| Olympic Record | 66.60 / Erik Lundqvist  SWE / 2 August 1928 / Details | |
Since 1930, Matti Järvinen had set six world records (five ratified) in the javelin, and was a heavy favorite in Los Angeles. His first five throws were all over 70 metres, all good enough to win the gold medal, with his best of 72.71 (238-6¾) coming in the third round.
Järvinen’s two brothers, Kalle Järvinen and Akilles Järvinen, also competed in Los Angeles, Akilles getting silver in the decathlon and Kalle placing 9th in the shot put.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Distance | Round #1 Distance | Round #2 Distance | Round #3 Distance | Round #4 Distance | Round #5 Distance | Round #6 Distance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 118 | Matti Järvinen |  FIN | 72.71 | 71.25 | 70.42 | 72.71 | 71.31 | 72.56 | 67.93 | Gold | ||
| 2 | 134 | Matti Sippala | FIN | 69.80 | 68.14 | 63.18 | 66.53 | 62.98 | 61.22 | 69.80 | Silver | ||
| 3 | 129 | Eino Penttilä | FIN | 68.70 | 60.04 | 64.13 | 64.28 | 65.40 | 68.70 | 66.86 | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 179 | Gottfried Weimann |  GER | 68.18 | 68.18 | 57.58 | 60.42 | 61.19 | 61.45 | 65.24 | |||
| 5 | 404 | Lee Bartlett |  USA | 64.46 | 64.46 | 64.44 | 62.62 | 57.30 | 61.47 | 59.55 | |||
| 6 | 411 | Ken Churchill | USA | 63.24 | 63.24 | 61.19 | 58.88 | x | 58.07 | x | |||
| 7 | 444 | Malcolm Metcalf | USA | 61.89 | 61.89 | 58.34 | 61.29 | – | – | – | |||
| 8 | 301 | Kosaku Sumiyoshi |  JPN | 61.14 | x | 61.14 | 60.13 | – | – | – | |||
| 9 | 359 | Olav Sunde |  NOR | 60.81 | 59.85 | 53.35 | 60.81 | – | – | – | |||
| 10 | 290 | Saburo Nagao | JPN | 59.83 | 59.34 | 59.83 | 59.01 | – | – | – | |||
| 11 | 47 | Heitor Medina |  BRA | 58.00 | 58.00 | 48.33 | x | – | – | – | |||
| 12 | 325 | Adolfo Clouthier |  MEX | 46.38 | 44.57 | x | 46.38 | – | – | – | |||
| 13 | 324 | Miguel Camberos | MEX | 41.71 | 41.71 | x | 38.60 | – | – | – | |||
| 163 | Wolrad Eberle | GER | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 373 | Harry Hart |  RSA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 397 | Vilim Messner |  YUG | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 76 | Doral Pilling |  CAN | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 57 | Domingos Trevisan | BRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 30 | Esmeraldo Azuaga | BRA | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
