| The main photo above shows Steve Backley preparing himself for the
very last throw of his long and illustrious career, at the 2004 Olympic
Games in Athens. The inset picture shows the throw itself which sadly
for Steve measured 81.62m, therefore failing to better his seasonal best
effort of 84.13m in the third round and leaving him just outside the
medals in fourth place. Steve won no less than thirteen medals during a
magnificent career and in any other era - without the incomparable Jan
Zelezny to contend with - he would surely have had at least one major
Gold medal to his name. |
| |
|
Men's Javelin Final
Olympic Games 2004
|
| |
|
|
. |
|
| 1. Andreas Thorkildsen |
|
NOR |
|
86.50m |
| 2. Vadims Vasilevskis |
|
LAT |
|
84.95m |
| 3. Sergey Makarov |
|
RUS |
|
84.84m |
| 4. Steve Backley |
|
GBR |
|
84.13m |
| 5. Alexandr Ivanov |
|
RUS |
|
83.31m |
| 6. Andrus Varnik |
|
EST |
|
83.25m |
| 7. Eriks Rags |
|
LAT |
|
83.14m |
| 8. Tero Pitkamaki |
|
FIN |
|
83.01m |
| |
ANNUAL PROGRESS.
2004 84.13 Athína 28 AUG
2003 85.69 Gateshead 13 JUL
2002 88.54 München 09 AUG
2001 90.81 London 22 JUL
2000 89.85 Sydney 23 SEP
1999 87.59 Birmingham 25 JUL
1998 89.89 Gateshead 19 JUL
1997 89.02 Riga 30 MAY
1996 87.44 Atlanta 03 AUG
1995 88.54 London 07 JUL
1994 85.20 Helsinki 08 AUG
1993 85.10 London 23 JUL
1992 91.46 Auckland 25 JAN (World record & personal best throw)
1991 78.24 Tokyo 25 AUG
1990 89.58 Stockholm 02 JUL (World record)
1989 85.90 Barcelona 10 SEP
1988 79.50 Derby 05 JUN
1987 78.16 Crawley 26 AUG