Tero Pitkämäki

Tero Pitkämäki

Tero Pitkämäki in 2014
Personal information
Born (1982-12-19) 19 December 1982
Ilmajoki, Finland
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 92 kg (203 lb)
Sport
Country  Finland
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Javelin
Club Nurmon Urheilijat[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) Javelin throw: 91.53 m (2005)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Finland
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 1
World Championships 1 1 1
European Championships 0 1 2
Total 1 2 4
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Javelin
World Championships
2007 Osaka Javelin
2013 Moscow Javelin
2015 Beijing Javelin
European Championships
2006 Gothenburg Javelin
2010 Barcelona Javelin
2014 Zürich Javelin

Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born 19 December 1982) is a Finnish javelin thrower and the former world champion. He has a personal best of 91.53 m set in 2005.[1][2]

Career

Pitkämäki finished 8th in the javelin contest at the 2004 Summer Olympics with the result 83.01 m and has since developed into one of the world's leading javelin throwers. As of August 2005, he had thrown 91.53 m, hence he was one of the favorites at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, which were held in his home country. However, he was only fourth with a result of 81.27 m. Pitkämäki took his first medal by placing second at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics.[3]

On Friday 13 July 2007, during the IAAF Golden League meet at Rome's Olimpico Stadium, Tero Pitkämäki threw a javelin too far left and hit French long jumper Salim Sdiri in the side of the back. Sdiri was rushed to a local Rome hospital with non life-threatening injuries.[4]

On 5 August, Pitkämäki won his 4th Finnish championship in a row with a throw of 89.43 meters. In the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, Pitkämäki secured gold medal in men's javelin with a throw of 89.16 meters. With his last throw in the competition, he bettered his final result to 90.33 meters.[5]

On 5 October 2007, Tero Pitkämäki was honored with the European Athlete of the Year title by the EEA. His 11 wins over the season, including the World Champion title, Golden League in Oslo and Paris, and his season best, also best in Europe, 91.23 meter throw, were the factors for choosing him.[6] In December, Pitkämäki was voted Finnish Sportsman of the Year by the members of the Finnish Sport Journalists Association, beating women's triple world cross country skiing champion Virpi Kuitunen and Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen.[7]

In September 2015, Pitkämäki received his first title from the Diamond League.[8]

Seasonal bests by year

Pitkämäki in 2015

References

  1. 1 2 Tero Pitkämäki. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ Athlete profile for Tero Pitkamaki. iaaf.org. Retrieved on 28 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tero Pitkämäki wins javelin silver in Gothenburg". Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  4. ↑ "Accident overshadows Powell show". BBC. 13 July 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  5. ↑ "Finn Pitkamaki goes big to claim javelin gold". Guardian Unlimited. London. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "24-year-old Tero Pitkämäki wins the Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year 2007". European Athletic Association. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen beaten by Pitkämäki in race for annual sports award". IAAF. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Diamond Race Standings" (PDF). IAAF. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
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