Thorkildsen wins men’s javelin at worlds

August 23, 2009

Andreas Thorkildsen, from Kristiansand, won the men’s javelin world crown on the final Day Nine of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin on Aug 23.

Thorkildsen made a huge breakthrough when he won on Sunday. Finally, he had done something no other javelin thrower has done which is hold World, Olympic and European titles simultaneously.

“It’s incredible,” said Thorkildsen, who was runner-up at the last two worlds. He won with a throw of 89.59 meters (295 feet, 1 inch) on his second attempt.

Guillermo Martinez of Cuba took silver with 86.41 meters and Yukifumi Murakami of Japan wins bronze with 82.97. Defending champion Tero Pitkamaki of Finland finishes fifth.

With this win Andreas has also outdone his father. 35 years ago Tomm Thorkildsen was Berlin champion with a throw just a little under 70m. On Aug. 23 his son threw 20m further for the World title. That’s another stat that is special to Thorkildsen.