Know what is the history of javelin throw? How did it go from a weapon of war to an Olympic sport?

Cricket has held an important place in the hearts of sports lovers in India for many decades. Although there are many sports in the country, but for some time now cricket has been the only sport whose craze has reached people’s heights. But since few years, apart from cricket, other sports have left their mark in the hearts of the youth. Or we can say that it has attracted the youth towards itself. One of these is Javelin Throw, which we also know as Javelin Throw. Javelin throw has become a global sport. Earlier it was used by hunters and soldiers.

To kill animals, hunters used to attach a long stick with a spear at one end and hunt by throwing it. While soldiers used it as a weapon in war. In modern times, javelin throwing has become a part of the sport. Which brings respect to the players.

History of Javelin Throw

Javelin throw first appeared as a sport in the ancient Olympic Games held in Greece in 708 BC. It was part of the pentathlon event along with running, discus throw, long jump and wrestling. At that time javelin was made of olive wood.

The condition of Olympia, the venue of the Olympic Games in ancient times, deteriorated after many battles and natural disasters over the centuries. The Games were officially abolished around 394 AD when the Roman Emperor Theodosius I outlawed pagan ceremonies and practices. With this, javelin throwing ended as a sport.

But the game was revived by Scandinavians in the late 1700s. Finland and Sweden competed in two separate javelin throwing events. In one of them, the spear had to be thrown at the target and in the other, it had to be thrown farthest. However, in later decades the long throw javelin became more popular.

Sweden’s athlete Eric Lemming was the first to practice javelin throw. He was a versatile track and field athlete, specializing in the javelin throw and jumping events. Laming dominated the game for more than a decade.

Javelin throw included in Olympics

Other throwing events were then included in the discus and shot put, the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Javelin throw was included for the first time in the third season held in London in 1908.

When javelin throw was included in the Olympics for the first time, Eric Laming maintained his dominance. This Swedish athlete won the gold medal in standard javelin throw as well as freestyle javelin throw.

Record of 100 meter throw made

Then over the next few decades, the popularity of javelin throw gradually increased. In this, instead of the Nordic countries, Central Europe gradually started gaining dominance. In this event, the great German Uwe Hahn revolutionized the sport.

Uwe Hahn became the first athlete to run the 100 metres. He is the only javelin throw athlete to do so. In 1984, Haun had set this record by throwing the javelin 104.8 meters in the games held in Berlin.

Under the coaching of Uwe Hahn, Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal for India in the Tokyo Olympics.

change in design

However, when 1986 came, the design of the Javelin changed. The javelin throw record was then reset by increasing its center of gravity. This move reduced the distance and reduced the risk of the javelin being overtaken by the space available in the stadiums.

A similar amendment was made to the women’s javelin throw in 1999. It was difficult to even cross the 90 meter mark in the first few years with the help of the redesigned spear. However, three-time Olympic champion Steve Beckley threw more than 90 meters in 1992.