| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Men

Date	26 – 28 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Stadio, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Maroussi
Participants	33 from 23 countries

American Breaux Greer led the qualifying with 87.25 (286-3) but injured his always sensitive knee in the process and would finish last in the final. The favorites were Ján Železný and Steve Backley again, along with Russian Sergey Makarov, the 2003 World Champion. Železný and Backley had had great careers but were now past their prime, Železný finishing ninth and Backley fourth, never in the medals. Makarov also did not have his best day, only able to get the bronze medal. In round two, Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen took the lead with 86.50 (283-9½) and that would be good enough for the gold medal. Nobody else could get over 85 metres. He had no major international credentials, although in 2001 he had set the world junior record with 83.87 (275-2). Track & Field News quoted Thorkildsen as saying, “If you had said the words ‘Olympic champion’ to me yesterday, I wouldn’t have believed you. But now it sounds great.”

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	2626	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	81.74 (8)	86.50 (1)	Gold
2	2429	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	84.43 (3)	84.95 (2)	Silver
3	2911	Sergey Makarov	RUS	86.08 (2)	84.84 (3)	Bronze
4	1788	Steve Backley	GBR	80.68 (12)	84.13 (4)
5	2883	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	82.18 (6)	83.31 (5)
6	1651	Andrus Värnik	EST	83.25 (5)	83.25 (6)
7	2427	Ēriks Rags	LAT	80.84 (11)	83.14 (7)
8	1705	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.04 (7)	83.01 (8)
9	1524	Jan Železný	CZE	81.18 (9)	80.59 (9)
10	1702	Matti Närhi	FIN	81.06 (10)	80.28 (10)
11	1699	Esko Mikkola	FIN	83.64 (4)	79.43 (11)
12	3269	Breaux Greer	USA	87.25 (1)	74.36 (12)
13 r1/2	1464	Isbel Luaces	CUB	80.07 (13)	–
14 r1/2	2832	Hardus Pienaar	RSA	79.95 (14)	–
15 r1/2	1356	Li Rongxiang	CHN	79.94 (15)	–
16 r1/2	1917	Christian Nicolay	GER	79.77 (16)	–
17 r1/2	2422	Voldemārs Lūsis	LAT	79.27 (17)	–
18 r1/2	2277	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.59 (18)	–
19 r1/2	1059	Oliver Dziubak	AUS	78.53 (19)	–
20 r1/2	1876	Peter Esenwein	GER	78.41 (20)	–
21 r1/2	1063	William Hamlyn-Harris	AUS	77.43 (21)	–
22 r1/2	3024	Peter Zupanc	SLO	77.34 (22)	–
23 r1/2	1494	Miroslav Guzdek	CZE	76.45 (23)	–
24 r1/2	3387	Sergey Voynov	UZB	74.68 (24)	–
25 r1/2	2633	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	74.63 (25)	–
26 r1/2	2072	Gergely Horváth	HUN	73.95 (26)	–
27 r1/2	2621	Ronny Nilsen	NOR	73.46 (27)	–
28 r1/2	1826	Nick Nieland	GBR	72.79 (28)	–
29 r1/2	2391	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	72.70 (29)	–
30 r1/2	3393	Manuel Fuenmayor	VEN	72.26 (30)	–
31 r1/2	1724	David Brisseault	FRA	71.86 (31)	–
32 r1/2	3057	Marián Bokor	SVK	71.74 (32)	–
33 r1/2	1436	Edi Ponoš	CRO	71.43 (33)	–
DNS	1890	Boris Henry	GER	– (DNS)	–

Qualifying Round (26 August 2004)

Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 81.00 metres advanced to the final.

Pos	Athlete	NOC	Distance
1	Breaux Greer	USA	87.25	Q
2	Sergey Makarov	RUS	86.08	Q
3	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	84.43	Q
4	Esko Mikkola	FIN	83.64	Q
5	Andrus Värnik	EST	83.25	Q
6	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	82.18	Q
7	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.04	Q
8	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	81.74	Q
9	Jan Železný	CZE	81.18	Q
10	Matti Närhi	FIN	81.06	Q
11	Ēriks Rags	LAT	80.84	q
12	Steve Backley	GBR	80.68	q
13	Isbel Luaces	CUB	80.07
14	Hardus Pienaar	RSA	79.95
15	Li Rongxiang	CHN	79.94
16	Christian Nicolay	GER	79.77
17	Voldemārs Lūsis	LAT	79.27
18	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.59
19	Oliver Dziubak	AUS	78.53
20	Peter Esenwein	GER	78.41
21	William Hamlyn-Harris	AUS	77.43
22	Peter Zupanc	SLO	77.34
23	Miroslav Guzdek	CZE	76.45
24	Sergey Voynov	UZB	74.68
25	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	74.63
26	Gergely Horváth	HUN	73.95
27	Ronny Nilsen	NOR	73.46
28	Nick Nieland	GBR	72.79
29	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	72.70
30	Manuel Fuenmayor	VEN	72.26
31	David Brisseault	FRA	71.86
32	Marián Bokor	SVK	71.74
33	Edi Ponoš	CRO	71.43
DNS	Boris Henry	GER	–

Qualifying Round, Group A (26 August 2004 — 20:05)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group A Round One	Group A Round Two	Group A Round Three
1	13	Breaux Greer	USA	87.25	87.25	-	-
2	10	Sergey Makarov	RUS	86.08	86.08	-	-
3	9	Esko Mikkola	FIN	83.64	83.64	-	-
4	4	Andrus Värnik	EST	83.25	83.25	-	-
5	17	Matti Närhi	FIN	81.06	81.06	-	-
6	14	Steve Backley	GBR	80.68	80.60	80.68	80.39
7	5	Hardus Pienaar	RSA	79.95	79.95	74.69	79.56
8	8	Christian Nicolay	GER	79.77	79.77	×	78.50
9	16	Voldemārs Lūsis	LAT	79.27	79.27	×	×
10	6	William Hamlyn-Harris	AUS	77.43	69.64	74.34	77.43
11	12	Peter Zupanc	SLO	77.34	74.11	72.42	77.34
12	11	Miroslav Guzdek	CZE	76.45	76.45	75.36	75.75
13	3	Gergely Horváth	HUN	73.95	73.45	73.95	72.05
14	2	Ronny Nilsen	NOR	73.46	×	73.46	×
15	1	Manuel Fuenmayor	VEN	72.26	72.26	68.72	72.14
16	7	David Brisseault	FRA	71.86	68.70	71.86	69.58
17	15	Marián Bokor	SVK	71.74	68.21	71.74	67.73

Qualifying Round, Group B1 (26 August 2004 — 21:50)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	Group B Round One	Group B Round Two	Group B Round Three
1	10	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	84.43	84.43	-	-
2	17	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	82.18	82.18	-	-
3	15	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	82.04	82.04	-	-
4	8	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	81.74	81.74	-	-
5	7	Jan Železný	CZE	81.18	81.18	-	-
6	11	Ēriks Rags	LAT	80.84	77.92	80.84	×
7	16	Isbel Luaces	CUB	80.07	80.07	77.53	79.07
8	14	Li Rongxiang	CHN	79.94	79.73	×	79.94
9	2	Yukifumi Murakami	JPN	78.59	77.25	77.60	78.59
10	5	Oliver Dziubak	AUS	78.53	77.21	78.53	75.57
11	6	Peter Esenwein	GER	78.41	75.18	73.76	78.41
12	13	Sergey Voynov	UZB	74.68	74.68	74.08	72.71
13	12	Stuart Farquhar	NZL	74.63	74.24	73.07	74.63
14	1	Nick Nieland	GBR	72.79	68.86	71.31	72.79
15	3	Park Jae-Myeong	KOR	72.70	63.01	67.60	72.70
16	4	Edi Ponoš	CRO	71.43	66.73	×	71.43
DNS	9	Boris Henry	GER	–	–	–	–

Final Round (28 August 2004 — 20:40)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Distance	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6
1	1/8	Andreas Thorkildsen	NOR	86.50	84.82	86.50	80.96	×	-	-
2	8/7	Vadims Vasiļevskis	LAT	84.95	84.95	83.95	×	×	79.07	80.91
3	5/6	Sergey Makarov	RUS	84.84	84.84	×	77.59	78.00	82.51	84.32
4	12/5	Steve Backley	GBR	84.13	79.62	81.48	84.13	83.02	×	81.62
5	4/4	Aleksandr Ivanov	RUS	83.31	83.31	82.76	81.36	80.28	78.07	79.99
6	10/3	Andrus Värnik	EST	83.25	83.25	82.72	×	×	-	76.41
7	2/2	Ēriks Rags	LAT	83.14	77.13	83.14	81.69	×	×	78.63
8	11/1	Tero Pitkämäki	FIN	83.01	80.38	83.01	×	×	81.19	×
9	6	Jan Železný	CZE	80.59	76.77	79.98	80.59	–	–	–
10	7	Matti Närhi	FIN	80.28	×	80.28	78.73	–	–	–
11	9	Esko Mikkola	FIN	79.43	76.20	79.43	76.23	–	–	–
12	3	Breaux Greer	USA	74.36	74.36	×	×	–	–	–