# Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

The Men's Javelin Throw event at the 1972 Summer Olympics took place on September 2–3 at the Olympic Stadium, Munich. The qualifying standard was 80 m (262 ft 5+1⁄2 in).
The winning margin was 2 cm which as of June 2024 remains the only time the men's javelin throw was won by less than 10 cm at the Olympics. Also as of June 2024, it is the narrowest winning margin for any javelin competition, women included, at the Olympics, the World Athletics Championships, the European Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | Jānis Lūsis | 93.80 m | Stockholm, Sweden | July 6, 1972 |
| Olympic record | Jānis Lūsis (URS) | 90.10 m | Mexico City, Mexico | October 16, 1968 |

## Results
### Qualifying round

| Rank | Series | Athlete | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | Result | Notes |
| 1 | A | Klaus Wolfermann | West Germany | 86.22 | | | 86.22 | Q |
| 2 | B | Jānis Lūsis | Soviet Union | 82.92 | | | 82.92 | Q |
| 3 | A | Hannu Siitonen | Finland | 81.80 | | | 81.80 | Q |
| 4 | B | Miklós Németh | Hungary | 70.90 | 81.78 | | 81.78 | Q |
| 5 | A | Fred Luke | United States | 81.34 | | | 81.34 | Q |
| 6 | B | Manfred Stolle | East Germany | 80.78 | | | 80.78 | Q |
| 7 | A | Jorma Kinnunen | Finland | 80.10 | | | 80.10 | Q |
| 8 | B | Milt Sonsky | United States | 79.96 | 78.78 | 74.24 | 79.96 | q |
| 9 | B | József Csík | Hungary | 79.08 | x | x | 79.08 | q |
| 10 | A | William Schmidt | United States | 75.28 | 75.90 | 78.96 | 78.96 | q |
| 11 | A | Lolesio Tuita | France | 75.36 | 78.78 | 77.34 | 78.78 | q |
| 12 | A | Bjørn Grimnes | Norway | x | 77.54 | x | 77.54 | q |
| 13 | B | Rick Dowswell | Canada | 66.54 | 72.52 | 77.42 | 77.42 | |
| 14 | A | Gergely Kulcsár | Hungary | x | x | 77.24 | 77.24 | |
| 15 | B | Urs von Wartburg | Switzerland | 76.36 | x | 76.20 | 76.36 | |
| 16 | A | André Claude | Canada | 75.56 | x | x | 75.56 | |
| 17 | B | Dave Travis | Great Britain | 74.68 | 70.10 | 74.30 | 74.68 | |
| 18 | B | Günther Glassauer | West Germany | x | x | 73.12 | 73.12 | |
| 19 | B | Jacques Abehi | Ivory Coast | 72.20 | x | x | 72.20 | |
| 20 | A | Renzo Cramerotti | Italy | 71.12 | x | x | 71.12 | |
| 21 | B | Donald Velez | Nicaragua | x | 63.74 | x | 64.74 | |
| 22 | A | Abdul Atif Al-Qahtani | Saudi Arabia | x | x | 53.06 | 53.06 | |
| | B | Leo Pusa | Finland | x | x | x | NM | |
| | A | Edmund Jaworski | Poland | | | | DNS | |

### Finals

The eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Result |
| | Klaus Wolfermann | West Germany | 86.68 | 85.14 | x | 88.40 | 90.48 | 84.70 | 90.48 OR |
| | Jānis Lūsis | Soviet Union | 88.88 | x | 89.54 | x | 81.66 | 90.46 | 90.46 |
| | William Schmidt | United States | 75.96 | 84.42 | x | 79.92 | 84.12 | x | 84.42 |
| 4 | Hannu Siitonen | Finland | 84.32 | x | x | x | x | x | 84.32 |
| 5 | Bjørn Grimnes | Norway | 71.86 | 82.38 | 83.08 | x | x | x | 83.08 |
| 6 | Jorma Kinnunen | Finland | x | 82.08 | 75.76 | x | x | 77.60 | 82.08 |
| 7 | Miklós Németh | Hungary | 80.80 | 81.98 | 78.58 | 81.88 | x | 81.40 | 81.98 |
| 8 | Fred Luke | United States | 66.64 | x | 80.06 | 79.70 | 71.46 | x | 80.06 |
| 9 | Manfred Stolle | East Germany | x | x | 79.32 | | | | 79.32 |
| 10 | Milt Sonsky | United States | 77.62 | 77.94 | 72.38 | | | | 77.94 |
| 11 | Lolesio Tuita | France | 76.34 | x | 69.38 | | | | 76.34 |
| 12 | József Csík | Hungary | 75.52 | 76.14 | x | | | | 76.14 |