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Tag Archives: Javelin
Track Beauty of the Week: Vira Rebryk Віра Вікторівна Ребрик
December 23, 2012
Posted by on Vira Rebryk is this week’s Track Beauty!
The 23-year old Ukrainian is the reigning World Junior record holder for the javelin throw. She set the U20 standard of 63.01m at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz back in 2008.[1] Naturally, her track record as an age-group athlete was immaculate, having won World Youth and World Junior silvers and the European Junior title on top of her World Junior gold medal.
Track Beauty of the Week: Goldie Sayers
October 7, 2012
Posted by on Goldie Sayers is this week’s Track Beauty!
Amidst the pouring British rain, Goldie stamped her class on a loaded javelin field a month before the London Olympic Games. Sayers threw a new personal best of 66.17m in Crystal Palace to snatch the win at that particular leg of the Diamond League. But her emphatic victory came at a huge cost, as Goldie injured her right arm in the process.
Track Beauty of the Week: Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir
September 8, 2012
Posted by on Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir is this week’s Track Beauty!
Hjálmsdóttir is Iceland’s best female javelin thrower. The 26-year old has a personal best of 62.77m from the qualifying rounds at the London Olympic Games. Thanks to Ásdís’ classy throw, she barged into the final of the highly comeptitive event. She eventually finished in a respectable 11th place, notching a best throw of 59.08m in the final.
Tiina Lillak: Finnish Javelin Legend
June 28, 2012
Posted by on When I was watching the javelin qualification rounds of the Helsinki European Championships, I noticed a prominent banner. Written in bold letters were the words: “Finland the Javelin Country.” Indeed, the javelin throw is a national past time in the Nordic countries. Of the sixty-nine medals awarded in the event since 1896, a staggering thirty-two medals had been won by troika of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. In fact, Finland had swept the medals twice in Olympic history.
The Euro Sport announcers then went on to talk about a certain Tiina Lillak, and how she snatched the inaugural World Championships gold on her final throw – in front of thousands of ecstatic Finns.

Tiina Lillak circa 1983. (Photo from Jos Hendrix)
Britain’s Fatima Whitbread threw down the gauntlet at the first round, throwing the spear to a distance of 69.14s. Lillak was in second place, with distances of 67.34m and 67.46m achieved in the first and fifth rounds. As the legendary Finn prepared for her final throw, the camera focused on Lillak. She was the portrait of sheer determination. Just from her expression, it was apparent that Lillak was summoning something grandiose.
And it was an epic throw, indeed. The moment the Finn released the javelin, the crowd let out a collective roar. When it struck the ground, beyond the Briton’s erstwhile leading mark and beyond seventy-meters (70.82m), the tens of thousands in attendance cheered even louder.
Coming from a country where athletics is nothing more than a fringe sport, the thought of a jam-packed stadium and a dramatically triumphant hometown bet gave me goosebumps.
The Euro Championships Men’s Javelin final will be held tonight. The resurgent 2007 World Champion Tero Pitkämäki and the exuberant Ari Mannio lead the Finnish charge. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed as I cheer for hometown duo, hoping to witness an epic in the making.
Source:
Track Beauty of the Week: Leryn Franco
July 16, 2011
Posted by on Leryn Franco is this week’s track beauty!
Franco shot to worldwide fame at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she became an internet sensation. With her good looks, she stood out amongst the field of competitors. But then again, to say that Leryn is good-looking is an understatement.
Photos from Leryn Franco’s Facebook fan page and Oscar Munoz Badilla
The approachable Leryn is no stranger to this blog, having been one of the first elite athletes to answer the 10-for-10 quiz, despite her busy schedule.
Read: “10-for-10: Leryn Franco talks about London 2012, competing and Yoann Gourcoff!”
Some people might dismiss Franco as nothing more than a pretty face. However, competing in two Olympic Games and the World Championships are achievements in themselves. Among all the athletes in the world, not many could say that they had competed on the world’s biggest stage!
Although Leryn’s best finish in a major international event is 24th place back in the 2003 Paris World Championships, the Paraguayan javelin thrower is a force to be reckoned with in South American athletics. As a junior, she set national U-17 records in both the javelin throw and the triple jump – a testament to her versatile athleticism! In 2001 and 2004, she won Junior and U-23 continental titles in the javelin, respectively.
Photos from Tetsumo and Leryn Franco’s Facebook fan page
Her detractors might have dismissed Franco as a has-been after her dismal 45.34m throw in Beijing (she placed 51st). But the competitive Paraguayan crawled back from the slump of 2008, setting a new national record of 55.66m, en route to winning the silver medal at the recently-concluded 2011 South American Championships – while having a vibrant career as a fashion model.
Indeed, Leryn Franco is more than just a pretty face. She is a certified track (or in this case, field) beauty!
10-for-10: Leryn Franco talks about London 2012, competing and Yoann Gourcoff!
August 4, 2010
Posted by on Leryn Franco answers the 10-for-10 quiz!
The two-time Olympian, professional model and beauty queen takes time off her busy schedule to answer the 10-for-10 feature!
1. How did you get started with track?
I’ve always loved sports, so I started at school with my friends!!just for fun!!
2. What’s the most memorable moment of your track career?
This sport had given me so many memorable moments. When I set the record of Paraguay, the Olympic Games, even when I get hurt, you always remember the good and bad things… it’s the life we choose and I love it!!
3. What’s your life-long dream?
Now, LONDON!!! of course! but as a person and as a woman, I’m like everybody else, I want a happy family, I think right now I can not complain of what I have, I’m just living the moment, that’s a good advice!! =)
4. Let’s lighten up a bit! What would you rather wear and why? Short shorts or tights?
Difficult question for a woman!! what was you thinking about?? Hahaha it depends!!
hurdler49: I was thinking more from a performance perspective!
5. If you could be a Glee cast member, who will you be? And what song will you sing?
Hmmm.. Sorry Joboy, I don’t [watch] Glee!! =(
6. How I Met Your Mother or F.R.I.E.N.D.S.?
Hmmm difficult one!!! Hey you watch too much TV!!! Hahaha
7. What’s the best pump-up song of all-time?
You are killing me Joboy!!!
8. If you could spend the rest of your days at any place in the world, which would you choose?
HOME!!!!
9. Name three things you just can’t live without.
REALLY??? HAHAH things, no persons!!!
- My cellphone
- My car
- Internet
10. Fill in the blanks: I’ll run an ultra marathon just to go out with _________.
Yoann Gourcoff!! hahahaha =)
Now I’m smitten since she said my name quite a few times! Yoann Gourcoff, you’re one lucky guy.
Thank you for answering, Leryn!
Article by Joboy Quintos
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Pitkamaki spears Sdiri, then wins World Gold.
June 22, 2010
Posted by on Reading of an upcoming showdown between Andreas Thorkildsen and Tero Pitkamaki reminded me of Pitkamaki’s no non-sense training clip.
Take note of Pitkamaki’s badass throwing style, where he puts his entire body behind each heave of the javelin. The way Pitkamaki dives to the track after each throw makes him more exciting to watch than his more illustrious nemesis – who had won back-to-back Olympic titles and a World Championships gold against Pitkamaki’s lone World title.
But what makes Pitkamaki truly admirable is his ability to hurdle adversity – or in this case, to spear adversity right at the ribcage! A month before topping the Osaka World Championships, Pitkamaki accidentally threw an errant javelin into the long jump area, impaling the French long jumper Salim Sdiri.
Fortunately, Sdiri escaped with nothing more than a flesh wound, missing a vital organ by a few centimeters.
To be able to win gold at the world stage after an obviously fearsome accident would have reduced most mortals to pulp. Amazing. Amazingly badass!