Steve BACKLEY

Steve Backley established an impressive competitive record at major international championships during his long career as a javelin thrower, which included three European titles, and medals at three consecutive Olympic Games. Backley made an early start to his long list of international honours when he won the javelin title at the 1987 European Junior Championships in Birmingham with a throw of 75.14m. The following year he won the UK national title at Derby on 5 June with a personal best of 79.50m, before finishing second at the World Junior Championships in Sudbury on 29 July. Backley made rapid improvement during 1989 registering victories at the World Student Games in Duisburg on 28 August, and in the Grand Prix final at Monaco on 1 September. His best result of the year was at the World Cup in Barcelona on 10 September, when he won the gold medal with a new Commonwealth record of 85.90m. Steve increased this record to 86.02m when he easily won the gold medal (see photo above) at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland on 3 February 1990. Backley improved to 88.46m on 3 June in Cardiff, as a prelude to breaking the world record with a throw of 89.58m at Stockholm on 2 July. This record was broken by Czech Jan Zelezny at Oslo on 14 July using one of the new 'Nemeth' javelins, soon after which Backley reclaimed the record at London on 20 July, having borrowed Zelezny's 'Nemeth' javelin during the competition to throw 90.98m. The anticipated confrontation between Backley and Zelezny at the European Championships in Split turned into somewhat of an anticlimax when Zelezny failed to qualify for the final. In his absence, Backley won the gold medal by four metres with a best throw of 87.30m. (Ron Casey)

 The 1990 season had been a very successful one for javelin thrower Steve Backley. He had finished the year as the world record holder after exchanging the record with Czech Jan Zelezny, and had won the gold medal at the European Championships where Zelezny had failed to qualify for the final. This was the beginning of an intense on-field rivalry between these two javelin champions, which would last for over a decade. During the early part of the 1991 season, Backley had lost his world record to Seppo Raty (Finland), who had used one of the new 'Nemeth' javelins that both Zelezny and Backley had used in their world records set in late July 1990. However, at the IAAF Congress held in Tokyo just prior to the World Championships in August 1991, this new type of javelin was made illegal, and all records set using them were retrospectively deleted. As a consequence, the world record reverted to the 89.58m mark that Backley had set on 2 July 1990.

There was a sensational occurrence in the javelin competition at the World Championships when both Backley and Zelezny failed to qualify for the final. Backley got some recompense however at the McVities Challenge in Sheffield on 15 September where he beat Zelezny and the first six placegetters from Tokyo. Steve started the 1992 season in style when he improved his world record to 91.46m in New Zealand on 25 January. Later that year, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona on 8 August, the javelin final was effectively over when Zelezny threw 89.66m in the first round. Hampered by an injury in his right thigh, Backley responded (see picture above : 8th August 1992 © photo G. Herringshaw) with a throw of 82.44m on his first attempt, which he improved to 83.38m in round four, but this could only earn him the bronze medal. (Ron Casey)

Despite the fact that Steve Backley's performance at the 1992 Olympic Games had been affected by injury, he still managed to win the bronze medal behind his old rival Jan Zelezny (Czech Republic). Backley continued to be plagued by injury during 1993, restricting him to two competitions. The first was a Grand Prix meet in London where he finished second to Zelezny, and the second was at the World Championships in Stuttgart, where Backley finished fourth in the final won by Zelezny. Backley made a successful return in 1994, and although he did not achieve the distances of his main rivals, he produced a phenomenal record at major championships during the year. In the European Championships at Helsinki on 8 July, Backley successfully retained the title he had won four years earlier at Split with his season's best throw of 85.20m, while Zelezny's third-place effort was below his seasonal best.

At the Commonwealth Games in Victoria on 28 August, Backley's main opposition came from compatriot Mike Hill, who had placed ahead of Steve at the previous year's World Championships. At Victoria, Hill took the lead in round one, until Backley came through in the third round with a 82.74m throw to become the first male athlete to successfully defend his Commonwealth javelin title. Backley was also victorious in 1994 at the World Cup in London on 11 September where he won the javelin with a throw of 85.02m. In the javelin final at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg on 13 August, Zelezny sealed the competition with a 88.92m throw in round four which he improved to 89.58m in round six. Backley responded valiantly (see photo above) moving into third place in round five with a throw of 84.92m, and then gaining the silver medal with his final throw of 86.30m. (Ron Casey)

During the early 1990's two extraordinary athletes, Steve Backley and Czech Jan Zelezny, dominated the javelin event. Although Zelezny had consistently produced longer throws than Backley, the Briton more than held his own in major competitions, having won the 1990 and 1994 European titles, while Zelezny, at the beginning of 1996 was the reigning Olympic and World Champion. It appeared early in the 1996 season, that another showdown between the two champions at the Olympic Games in Atlanta might not eventuate, as injury curtailed much of Backley's season. However, in the Olympic final on 3 August, Backley (photo above by G. Herringshaw 3rd August 1996 © ) once again demonstrated his incredible competitive spirit, by assuming the lead in the first round with a throw of 87.44m. The only throw in the competition which surpassed Backley's opening effort, was Zelezny's 88.16m achieved in round two, which meant that Steve had won an Olympic silver medal to go with the bronze he had earned four years earlier.

Backley had a good start to the 1997 season, throwing 89.02m at an early season meet in Riga on 30 May. This was his first throw over 89 metres since 1992. The javelin competition at the 1997 World Championships in Athens was notable for the disappointing performance of some of the leading ranked throwers some of whom failed to make the final. In the final, Zelezny had a rare off day and finished a surprising ninth, while the unheralded winner, Marius Corbett (South Africa) bettered his personal best by over four metres with a throw of 88.40m. Backley also was throwing below par, and was only in fifth place after round five with a best throw of 84.74m, before his renowned competitive spirit once again came to the fore, and he rifled a 86.80m throw on his last attempt to claim the silver medal. (Ron Casey)