Jan Železný facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jan Železný

Železný in 2015
Personal information
Nationality	Czech
Born	(1966-06-16) 16 June 1966 (age 58) Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb; 13.5 st)
Sport
Country	Czechoslovakia (1987–1992) Czech Republic (1993–2006)
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Javelin throw
Turned pro	1986
Retired	2006
Now coaching	Neeraj Chopra
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	WR 98.48 m (1996)
Medal record Men's athletics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 1 0 World Championships 3 0 2 European Championships 0 0 2 Total 6 1 4 Representing  Czechoslovakia Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona Javelin Silver 1988 Seoul Javelin World Championships Bronze 1987 Rome Javelin Representing  Czech Republic Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta Javelin Gold 2000 Sydney Javelin World Championships Gold 1993 Stuttgart Javelin Gold 1995 Gothenburg Javelin Gold 2001 Edmonton Javelin Bronze 1999 Seville Javelin Goodwill Games Gold 2001 Brisbane Javelin throw  European Championships Bronze 1994 Helsinki Javelin Bronze 2006 Gothenburg Javelin
Updated on 6 July 2012.

Jan Železný (Czech pronunciation: [jan ˈʒɛlɛzniː]; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World and Olympic champion and holds the world record with a throw of 98.48 metres (323 ft 1 in). Widely considered the greatest javelin thrower of the modern era, he also has the fourth, fifth and sixth best performances of all time. He broke the world record a total of four times.

Biography

Železný was born in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia. He won the silver medal in the 1988 Olympics and the gold medal at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympic Games. He won World Championship titles in 1993, 1995 and 2001.

Železný holds the world record of 98.48 metres (323 ft 1 in), set in 1996, and the World Championships record of 92.80 metres (304 ft 6 in), set in 2001. On 26 March 1997 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, he threw over the 90-metre barrier five times in a single meet. Until September 2020, he was also the only athlete to throw more than 95 metres with the new type of javelin, something he achieved three times.

During his career, Železný had many great battles against the likes of Steve Backley, Sergey Makarov, Boris Henry, Seppo Räty, Raymond Hecht and Aki Parviainen.

Železný planned to retire after the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, where he won the bronze medal with a throw of 85.92 metres (281 ft 11 in). He took leave of his career on 19 September 2006 on exhibition in Mladá Boleslav, the place where he started with athletics.

Železný coaches Vítězslav Veselý and is the former coach of Barbora Špotáková.

Four days after winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, Železný had a tryout as a baseball pitcher with the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium. Both Železný and the Braves treated the tryout seriously and not as a "publicity stunt" or "sideshow," though Železný had no baseball experience beyond throwing a ball at home with his young son.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Czechoslovakia
1983	European Junior Championships	Schwechat, Austria	6th	Javelin (old)	71.26 m
1985	European Junior Championships	Cottbus, East Germany	4th	Javelin (old)	75.10 m
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	18th (q)	Javelin	75.90 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	Javelin	82.20 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	2nd	Javelin	84.12 m
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	13th (q)	Javelin	77.64 m
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	18th (q)	Javelin	76.26 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	1st	Javelin	89.66 m
Representing the  Czech Republic
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	Javelin	85.98 m
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	3rd	Javelin	82.58 m
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	Javelin	89.58 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	1st	Javelin	88.16 m
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	9th	Javelin	82.04 m
1999	World Championships	Seville, Spain	3rd	Javelin	87.67 m
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	1st	Javelin	90.17 m
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	1st	Javelin	92.80 m
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	1st	Javelin	87.52 m
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	11th	Javelin	NM
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	4th	Javelin	84.09 m
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	9th	Javelin	80.59 m
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	Javelin	85.92 m

See also

In Spanish: Jan Železný para niños

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event
• List of European records in athletics