Vítězslav Veselý () (born 27 February 1983) is a Czech

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 wom ...

er. He won two bronze medals at the Olympic games, in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Career

He finished ninth at the 2002 World Junior Championships. He threw a personal best throw of 81.20 metres during the qualifying round at the 2008 Olympic Games and finished twelfth in the final. He was less successful at his first

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

the following year, failing to make the final with a throw of 75.76 m. Veselý improved his personal best by more than five metres at a meeting in

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

in May 2010, throwing a world leading mark of 86.45 m. He was ninth at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

that year. He came close to a major medal with a fourth-place finish at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

. He had his second best ever throw at the

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

2012 Diamond League The 2012 IAAF Diamond League (also known as the 2012 Samsung Diamond League for sponsorship purposes) was the third edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 11 May in Doha, ...

meet, winning with a mark of 85.40 m. At the 2012 Olympic Games, Veselý threw a new personal best of 88.34 m to improve his world lead; in the final, however, his last throw of 83.34 m was only good enough for 4th place. In 2017, following the disqualification of Oleksandr Pyatnytsya due to doping, Veselý was awarded the bronze medal. In 2013 Veselý won the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

with a mark of 87.17 meters, only 10 cm ahead of

Tero Pitkämäki Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born 19 December 1982) is a Finnish retired track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2007. His personal best throw of 91.53 m, set in 2005, ranks him elev ...

. With this result he became the second Czech world champion in men's javelin throw beside

Jan Železný Jan Železný (; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World and Olympic champion and holds the world record with a throw of . Widely considered to be the greatest javelin throwe ...

. During 2014 he wasn't able to defend his title at the Europeans: Veselý finished second with 84.79 m behind Antti Ruuskanen, who was in his best form in the final, reaching 88.01 m at the third round.

Achievements

Seasonal bests by year

*2002 – 73.22 *2006 – 75.98 *2007 – 79.45 *2008 – 81.20 *2009 – 80.35 *2010 – 86.45 *2011 – 84.11 *2012 – 88.34 *2013 – 87.58 *2014 – 87.38 *2015 – 88.18 *2016 – 84.82 *2017 – 82.29 *2018 – 82.30 *2019 – 82.85 *2020 – 83.03 *2021 – 85.44

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vesely, Vitezslav 1983 births Living people People from Hodonín Czech male javelin throwers 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 the Czech Republic European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for the Czech Republic World Athletics Championships medalists Diamond League winners World Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Sportspeople from the South Moravian Region