| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Men

Date	4 – 5 August 1984
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	28 from 19 countries

The top javelinist in 1984 was easily East German Uwe Hohn. His 11 meets prior to July averaged 94.09, longer than any other mark in 1984. On 20 July 1984, he changed the event. That day in Berlin he broke the world record with 104.80 (343-10). The throw was so long that it started to raise safety concerns. He was close to literally throwing the javelin out of the stadium – or at least the infield – and putting runners or spectators in danger. Partly because of this, the javelin specifications were shortly thereafter changed, and a new implement was in use from April 1986, although the changes had been initiated before the 1984 Olympics, in an effort to change the javelin center-of-gravity and allow for more frequent tip-first landings, making it easier to judge. Without Hohn nobody was favored in Los Angeles. Tom Petranoff (USA) led the qualifiers with 85.96 (282-0¼) but would finish only 10th in the final. The gold was won by Finland’s Arto Härkönen, continuing his nation’s tradition in the javelin. He was the first left-hander to win the Olympic javelin.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	253	Arto Härkönen	FIN	83.06 (3)	86.76 (1)	Gold
2	387	Dave Ottley	GBR	85.68 (2)	85.74 (2)	Silver
3	800	Kenth Eldebrink	SWE	81.06 (9)	83.72 (3)	Bronze
4	310	Wolfram Gambke	FRG	82.98 (5)	82.46 (4)
5	571	Masami Yoshida	JPN	81.42 (8)	81.98 (5)
6	477	Einar Vilhjálmsson	ISL	80.94 (10)	81.58 (6)
7	356	Roald Bradstock	GBR	83.06 (4)	81.22 (7)
8	111	Laslo Babits	CAN	82.18 (7)	80.68 (8)
9	685	Per Erling Olsen	NOR	82.46 (6)	78.98 (9)
10	931	Tom Petranoff	USA	85.96 (1)	78.40 (10)
11	881	Duncan Atwood	USA	79.34 (12)	78.10 (11)
12	290	Jean-Paul Lakafia	FRA	80.52 (11)	70.86 (12)
13 QR	261	Raimo Manninen	FIN	79.26 (13)	–
14 QR	636	Juan de la Garza	MEX	79.16 (14)	–
15 QR	683	Reidar Lorentzen	NOR	76.62 (15)	–
16 QR	957	Sejad Krdžalić	YUG	76.52 (16)	–
17 QR	266	Tero Saviniemi	FIN	76.46 (17)	–
18 QR	935	Steve Roller	USA	75.50 (18)	–
19 QR	826	Zakayo Malekwa	TAN	75.18 (19)	–
20 QR	559	Kazuhiro Mizoguchi	JPN	74.82 (20)	–
21 QR	704	Muhammad Rashid Khan	PAK	74.58 (21)	–
22 QR	338	Klaus Tafelmeier	FRG	73.52 (22)	–
23 QR	505	Agostino Ghesini	ITA	72.96 (23)	–
24 QR	844	Chen Hung-Yen	TPE	71.48 (24)	–
25 QR	458	Gurtej Singh	IND	70.08 (25)	–
26 QR	472	Siggi Einarsson	ISL	69.82 (26)	–
27 QR	837	Justin Arop	UGA	69.76 (27)	–
AC QR	691	Mike O'Rourke	NZL	– (NM)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	4 August 1984 — 9:30
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 83.00 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Distance	2nd-Best Mark Distance
1	931	Tom Petranoff	USA	85.96	–	Q
2	387	Dave Ottley	GBR	85.68	–	Q
3	253	Arto Härkönen	FIN	83.06	82.82	Q
4	356	Roald Bradstock	GBR	83.06	81.08	Q
5	310	Wolfram Gambke	FRG	82.98	–	q
6	685	Per Erling Olsen	NOR	82.46	–	q
7	111	Laslo Babits	CAN	82.18	–	q
8	571	Masami Yoshida	JPN	81.42	–	q
9	800	Kenth Eldebrink	SWE	81.06	–	q
10	477	Einar Vilhjálmsson	ISL	80.94	–	q
11	290	Jean-Paul Lakafia	FRA	80.52	–	q
12	881	Duncan Atwood	USA	79.34	–	q
13	261	Raimo Manninen	FIN	79.26	–
14	636	Juan de la Garza	MEX	79.16	–
15	683	Reidar Lorentzen	NOR	76.62	–
16	957	Sejad Krdžalić	YUG	76.52	–
17	266	Tero Saviniemi	FIN	76.46	–
18	935	Steve Roller	USA	75.50	–
19	826	Zakayo Malekwa	TAN	75.18	–
20	559	Kazuhiro Mizoguchi	JPN	74.82	–
21	704	Muhammad Rashid Khan	PAK	74.58	–
22	338	Klaus Tafelmeier	FRG	73.52	–
23	505	Agostino Ghesini	ITA	72.96	–
24	844	Chen Hung-Yen	TPE	71.48	–
25	458	Gurtej Singh	IND	70.08	–
26	472	Siggi Einarsson	ISL	69.82	–
27	837	Justin Arop	UGA	69.76	–
NM	691	Mike O'Rourke	NZL	–	–

Group A

Date	4 August 1984

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	8	Roald Bradstock	GBR	83.06	79.52	81.08	83.06
2	3	Wolfram Gambke	FRG	82.98	75.10	82.98	x
3	12	Per Erling Olsen	NOR	82.46	82.46	x	x
4	11	Laslo Babits	CAN	82.18	x	76.68	82.18
5	9	Masami Yoshida	JPN	81.42	78.14	81.42	78.06
6	13	Einar Vilhjálmsson	ISL	80.94	79.78	x	80.94
7	10	Jean-Paul Lakafia	FRA	80.52	80.52	66.26	78.02
8	1	Duncan Atwood	USA	79.34	77.08	79.34	x
9	2	Raimo Manninen	FIN	79.26	79.26	x	x
10	6	Juan de la Garza	MEX	79.16	78.80	x	79.16
11	4	Sejad Krdžalić	YUG	76.52	76.52	x	x
12	14	Zakayo Malekwa	TAN	75.18	71.80	x	75.18
13	7	Agostino Ghesini	ITA	72.96	72.16	63.92	72.96
14	5	Justin Arop	UGA	69.76	69.76	66.30	x

Group B

Date	4 August 1984

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	7	Tom Petranoff	USA	85.96	85.96	p	p
2	1	Dave Ottley	GBR	85.68	85.68	p	p
3	2	Arto Härkönen	FIN	83.06	82.82	83.06	p
4	13	Kenth Eldebrink	SWE	81.06	79.36	81.06	79.42
5	9	Reidar Lorentzen	NOR	76.62	x	68.00	76.62
6	11	Tero Saviniemi	FIN	76.46	x	76.46	x
7	4	Steve Roller	USA	75.50	75.50	75.48	x
8	14	Kazuhiro Mizoguchi	JPN	74.82	74.82	72.58	69.18
9	6	Muhammad Rashid Khan	PAK	74.58	72.48	70.76	74.58
10	12	Klaus Tafelmeier	FRG	73.52	x	x	73.52
11	5	Chen Hung-Yen	TPE	71.48	62.46	71.48	68.54
12	8	Gurtej Singh	IND	70.08	63.62	70.08	69.32
13	10	Siggi Einarsson	ISL	69.82	69.82	66.68	67.02
NM	3	Mike O'Rourke	NZL	–	x	x	x

Final Round

Date	5 August 1984 — 17:10

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance	Round #4 Distance	Round #5 Distance	Round #6 Distance
1	7	Arto Härkönen	FIN	86.76	x	78.74	84.34	86.76	x	x
2	9	Dave Ottley	GBR	85.74	85.74	81.52	x	x	83.92	84.46
3	2	Kenth Eldebrink	SWE	83.72	x	80.28	x	x	83.72	83.30
4	11	Wolfram Gambke	FRG	82.46	82.00	82.46	x	78.88	x	72.08
5	3	Masami Yoshida	JPN	81.98	x	81.98	x	81.98	77.92	81.66
6	5	Einar Vilhjálmsson	ISL	81.58	80.44	77.66	79.22	81.58	x	79.26
7	6	Roald Bradstock	GBR	81.22	70.20	81.22	78.22	76.68	x	78.82
8	12	Laslo Babits	CAN	80.68	x	x	80.68	x	x	x
9	1	Per Erling Olsen	NOR	78.98	73.64	x	78.98	–	–	–
10	10	Tom Petranoff	USA	78.40	x	x	78.40	–	–	–
11	8	Duncan Atwood	USA	78.10	72.54	78.10	x	–	–	–
12	4	Jean-Paul Lakafia	FRA	70.86	x	x	70.86	–	–	–