The Men's Javelin Throw has been included in all Summer Olympics since it was first introduced in London 1908. Since then, athletes from Finland have seen the most success in this event, with seven gold medals and 22 total medals; unlike in other athletic events , Finnish athletes have consistently performed well in this event, winning their first medal in 1912, and most recently in 2012. The most successful athlete in this event's history is the Czech javelin thrower, Jan Železný, who won three golds and one silver medal between 1988 and 2000 while representing both Czechoslovakia and Czechia. By winning the gold in 2012, Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago made history, and became the first male athlete of African descent to win the gold medal in any throwing event at the Olympics. 2020 winner, Neeraj Chopra was the first athlete from Asia towin a medal in this event, and one of just two Indian athletes to win an individual gold medal.
In 2016, Ukrainian thrower Oleksandr Pyatnytsya was stripped of the silver medal he won in London in 2012, after testing positive for anabolic steroids; as of the Tokyo 2020 Games, he is the only athlete to have been stripped of a medal in this event.
Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020
*No longer exists/competes at the Olympics.
**Includes the United Team of Germany (1956-1964), but does not include East or West Germany.
This data was collected using the official Olympic.org site, as well as a spreadsheet from the Guardian that includes data from 1896-2008 (available here), 2012 and 2016 data was compared with that from Encyclopaedia Britannica, and several news outlets were used to update the table when medals were reassigned (i.e. for doping offenses).
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olympic.org, & The Guardian. (August 10, 2021). Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 30, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/
olympic.org, und The Guardian. "Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020." Chart. August 10, 2021. Statista. Accessed December 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/
olympic.org, The Guardian. (2021). Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 30, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/
olympic.org, and The Guardian. "Medal Count by Country in The Men's Javelin Throw at The Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020." Statista, Statista Inc., 10 Aug 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/
olympic.org & The Guardian, Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/ (last visited December 30, 2024)
Medal count by country in the Men's Javelin Throw at the Summer Olympics from 1908 to 2020 [Graph], olympic.org, & The Guardian, August 10, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1117880/olympics-mens-javelin-throw-medal-table-since-1908/