Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born 19 December 1982) is a Finnish retired

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. He is a World Champion, having won gold in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. His personal best throw of 91.53 m, set in 2005, ranks him eleventh on the overall list.

Early life

Pitkämäki was born on 19 December 1982. He is from the rural village of Ahonkylä in

Ilmajoki Ilmajoki (; sv, Ilmola) is a municipality of Finland. Ilmajoki is a town and municipality situated in Finland's South Ostrobothnia region, founded in 1865. Ilmajoki has a population of 12,165 (28. February 2017)and covers an area of 579.79 ...

. His interest in the javelin throw began at the age of eight. He was inspired by watching the 1991 World Championships, where

Kimmo Kinnunen Kimmo Paavali Kinnunen (born 31 March 1968) is a Finnish former javelin thrower. He won gold at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and silver at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart. His other achievements include a 4th-place finish a ...

and

Seppo Räty Seppo Henrik Räty (born 27 April 1962) is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He was a World Champion, having won gold in 1987. He was also an Olympic medalist (silver in 1992, bronze in 1988 and 1996). ...

won both gold and silver for Finland. Afterwards, Pitkämäki competed in a youth competition in Koskenkorva (Ilmajoki), where he threw the javelin 22 metres, 10 metres ahead of the runner-up. He regularly practiced throwing at home, once piercing his neighbour's roof.

Career

Pitkämäki finished 8th in the javelin contest at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

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 The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

, 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 The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Championsh ...

. On Friday 13 July 2007, during the

IAAF Golden League The IAAF Golden League was an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Athletes who won specific events at all of the series meetings were awarded a jackpot prize, ...

meet at Rome's Olimpico Stadium, Tero Pitkämäki threw a javelin too far left and hit French long jumper

Salim Sdiri Salim Sdiri (born 26 October 1978) is a French long jumper of Tunisian descent. His personal best is 8.42 metres, achieved in June 2009 at Pierre-Bénite, which is the current French national record. He is also the French national record holder ...

in the side of the

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

. Sdiri was rushed to a local Rome hospital with non life-threatening injuries. 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 The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, 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. On 5 October 2007, Tero Pitkämäki was honored with the

European Athlete of the Year The European Athlete of the Year award is an annual prize awarded to sportspeople participating in athletics, including track and field, road running and cross country running competitions. The election has been organised by the European governin ...

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. 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 Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

champion

Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo (née Kuitunen, born 20 May 1976) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and ...

and

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

world champion

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...

. In September 2015, Pitkämäki received his first title from the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

. Pitkämäki announced his retirement from competition on 14 October 2019. He had ruptured his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in June 2018 and began rehabilitation in August of that year. He recovered from the injury and did not experience pain during practice, but felt that the functionality of the knee had reduced significantly. He said his throws in summer 2019 were around 75 m, and that he did not believe he was capable of being competitive at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

. Pitkämäki had planned to finish his career at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, but brought his retirement forward. He stated at his retirement news conference: "When it became clear to me that I was no longer in the condition I wanted to be in and that I would no longer get there, my enthusiasm and motivation for the sport dried up. That is the biggest reason for the decision."Finnish javelin champion Tero Pitkämäki calls it quits
Yle

Seasonal bests

*1999 – 66.83 *2000 – 73.75 *2001 – 74.89 *2002 – 77.24 *2003 – 80.45 *2004 – 84.64 *2005 – 91.53 *2006 – 91.11 *2007 – 91.23 *2008 – 87.70 *2009 – 87.79 *2010 – 86.92 *2011 – 85.33 *2012 – 86.98 *2013 – 89.03 *2014 – 86.63 *2015 – 89.09 *2016 – 86.13 *2017 – 88.27 *2018 – 82.64

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitkamaki, Tero 1982 births Living people Finnish male javelin throwers People from Ilmajoki Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Finland Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) European Athlete of the Year winners Diamond League winners World Athletics Championships winners Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia