The men's javelin throw was a track and field athletics event held as part of the athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, but in 1908 it was a standing throw with no run up. The competition was held on Saturday, July 6, 1912. Twenty-five javelin throwers from seven nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.Official report, p. 61.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record 61.45(*) Julius Saaristo Helsinki (FIN) May 25, 1912 Olympic record 54.83 Eric Lemming London (GBR) July 17, 1908

(*) unofficial

Julius Saaristo set at first a new Olympic record with 55.37 m. Eric Lemming improved the record to 57.42 m and finally to 60.64 m. Three days later on July 9, 1912 Julius Saaristo set a new Olympic record in the two handed javelin throw competition with 61.00 m.

Results

Saaristo took the lead after the first throw, and made an even better second throw to stay ahead of Lemming. On the third throw, however, Saaristo scratched and Lemming threw his javelin well over 57 metres to take the lead going into the finals, with Kóczán wresting third place from Halme on the final throw to advance as well. While each of the three finalists made improvements in their marks in the final round, no changes in order were made and Lemming's 60.64 metres stood as the new record.

Place Athlete Preliminary Final Best mark 1 2 3 Rank 4 5 6 1 53.02 54.78 57.42 OR 1st 60.64 OR — 59.00Bergvall, p. 403. The throw is described as "about 59 metres" in a departure from standard precision. 60.64 2 54.75 55.37 OR — 2nd 56.21 — 58.66 58.66 3 54.06 — 54.99 3rd — — 55.50 55.50 4 53.81 54.65 — 4th 54.65 5 52.19 — 52.43 5th 52.43 6 46.56 48.25 52.20 6th 52.20 7 51.98 — — 7th 51.98 8 48.77 51.33 — 8th 51.33 9 49.20 — — 9th 49.20 10 47.59 48.01 49.18 10th 49.18 11 — 47.85 — 11th 47.85 12 46.18 46.87 47.61 12th 47.61 13 46.94 — — 13th 46.94 14 45.14 45.48 46.71 14th 46.71 15 — 44.09 45.67 15th 45.67 16 45.00 45.32 — 16th 45.32 17 — 44.78 44.98 17th 44.98 18 44.50 — 44.66 18th 44.66 19 41.99 43.20 43.71 19th 43.71 20 — 43.21 — 20th 43.21 21 43.18 — — 21st 43.18 22 — 41.99 — 22nd 41.99 23 41.05 — — 23rd 41.05 24 — — — 24th None — — — 24th None

References

Sources