# 1998 European Athletics Championships – Men's javelin throw

These are the official results of the Men's javelin throw event at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. There were a total number of 26 participating athletes. The final was held on 23 August 1998, two days after the qualification round where the mark was set at 82.00 metres. Title defender Steve Backley from Great Britain won the title for a third time in a row, setting a new championship record in the final round: 89.72 metres.

## Medalists

| Gold | Steve Backley Great Britain (GBR) |
| Silver | Mick Hill Great Britain (GBR) |
| Bronze | Raymond Hecht Germany (GER) |

## Schedule

* All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
Qualification Round :
| Group A | Group B |
| 21.08.1998 – 10:00h | 21.08.1998 – 11:40h |
| Final Round ||
| 23.08.1998 – 18:00h ||

## Abbreviations

* All results shown are in metres
| Q | automatic qualification |
| q | qualification by rank |
| DNS | did not start |
| NM | no mark |
| WR | world record |
| AR | area record |
| NR | national record |
| PB | personal best |
| SB | season best |

## Records

Standing records prior to the 1998 European Athletics Championships :
| World Record | Jan Železný (CZE) | 98.48 m | May 25, 1996 | Jena, Germany |
| Event Record | Steve Backley (GBR) | 85.20 m | August 8, 1994 | Helsinki, Finland |
| Broken records during the 1998 European Athletics Championships |||||
| Event Record | Steve Backley (GBR) | 89.72 m | August 23, 1998 | Budapest, Hungary |

## Competitors

* European list as of August 17, 1998, just before the start of the competition
| Rank | Athlete | Season Best | Personal Best |
| 1 | Aki Parviainen (FIN) | 90.88 | 87.48 |
| 2 | Steve Backley (GBR) | 89.89 | 91.46 |
| 3 | Boris Henry (GER) | 89.21 | 90.44 |
| 4 | Kostas Gatsioudis (GRE) | 88.13 | 89.22 |
| 5 | Raymond Hecht (GER) | 88.08 | 92.60 |
| 6 | Peter Blank (GER) | 86.99 | 88.12 |
| 7 | Juha Laukkanen (FIN) | 86.96 | 88.22 |
| 8 | Mark Roberson (GBR) | 85.67 | 80.92 |
| 9 | Sergey Makarov (RUS) | 85.64 | 88.86 |
| 10 | Harri Hakkarainen (FIN) | 85.28 | 87.82 |
| 11 | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 85.15 | 89.10 |
| 12 | Pål Arne Fagernes (NOR) | 84.46 | 85.06 |
| 13 | Matti Närhi (FIN) | 84.38 | 88.24 |
| 14 | Kimmo Kinnunen (FIN) | 84.23 | 85.32 |
| 15 | Peter Esenwein (GER) | 84.17 | 85.60 |
| 16 | Mick Hill (GBR) | 83.94 | 86.94 |
| 17 | Sami Saksio (FIN) | 83.37 | 84.26 |
| 18 | Yuriy Rybin (RUS) | 83.08 | 86.98 |
| 19 | Carlo Sonego (ITA) | 82.44 | 74.90 |
| 20 | Gregor Högler (AUT) | 81.89 | 83.00 |
| 21 | Andreas Linden (GER) | 81.89 | 85.42 |
| 22 | Esko Mikkola (FIN) | 81.86 | 76.08 |
| 23 | Gaetan Siakinuu (FRA) | 81.75 | 76.88 |
| 24 | Johan Kloeck (BEL) | 81.18 | 78.46 |
| 25 | Ēriks Rags (LAT) | 80.56 | 79.04 |
| 26 | Gergely Horváth (HUN) | 80.53 | 73.96 |

## Qualification
### Group A

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 3 | Peter Blank (GER) | 75.96 | 75.45 | 83.41 | 83.41 m |
| 2 | 6 | Sergey Makarov (RUS) | 80.98 | X | — | 80.98 m |
| 3 | 8 | Aki Parviainen (FIN) | X | 80.65 | X | 80.65 m |
| 4 | 9 | Gregor Högler (AUT) | 80.28 | 80.47 | 77.54 | 80.47 m |
| 5 | 11 | Dariusz Trafas (POL) | 79.86 | 78.42 | 77.16 | 79.86 m |
| 6 | 12 | Mark Roberson (GBR) | 74.46 | 79.63 | X | 79.63 m |
| 7 | 15 | Carlo Sonego (ITA) | 77.74 | 76.80 | X | 77.74 m |
| 8 | 16 | Pål Arne Fagernes (NOR) | 77.54 | X | X | 77.54 m |
| 9 | 19 | Gergely Horváth (HUN) | 74.82 | 75.66 | 74.47 | 75.66 m |
| 10 | 20 | Voldemārs Lūsis (LAT) | X | X | 75.14 | 75.14 m |
| 11 | 24 | Dejan Angelovski (MKD) | 70.77 | 71.78 | 70.18 | 71.78 m |
| 12 | 25 | Gaetan Siakinuu (FRA) | 69.95 | X | 65.53 | 69.95 m |

### Group B

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 1 | Steve Backley (GBR) | 87.45 | — | — | 87.45 m |
| 2 | 2 | Juha Laukkanen (FIN) | 83.71 | — | — | 83.71 m |
| 3 | 4 | Raymond Hecht (GER) | 76.21 | 83.32 | — | 83.32 m |
| 4 | 5 | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 79.02 | 81.01 | — | 81.01 m |
| 5 | 7 | Matti Närhi (FIN) | 72.32 | X | 80.94 | 80.94 m |
| 6 | 10 | Mick Hill (GBR) | X | X | 80.14 | 80.14 m |
| 7 | 13 | Vladimir Sasimovich (BLR) | 79.14 | 79.06 | 76.66 | 79.14 m |
| 8 | 14 | Andreas Linden (GER) | 78.98 | X | X | 78.98 m |
| 9 | 17 | Dimitrios Polymerou (GRE) | 77.49 | X | X | 77.49 m |
| 10 | 18 | Arūnas Jurkšas (LTU) | 75.40 | 74.73 | 77.37 | 77.37 m |
| 11 | 21 | Ēriks Rags (LAT) | 74.27 | X | X | 74.27 m |
| 12 | 22 | Yuriy Rybin (RUS) | 72.86 | X | X | 72.86 m |
| 13 | 23 | Terry McHugh (IRL) | 72.82 | 72.71 | 72.76 | 72.82 m |

## Final

| Rank | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance | Note |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance | Note |
| | Steve Backley (GBR) | 89.72 | X | 83.03 | 85.69 | 84.87 | 84.17 | 89.72 m | CR |
| | Mick Hill (GBR) | 83.80 | 79.07 | 83.41 | 85.77 | 86.92 | 85.72 | 86.92 m | |
| | Raymond Hecht (GER) | 85.68 | 83.51 | 86.63 | — | — | — | 86.63 m | |
| 4 | Sergey Makarov (RUS) | 86.45 | 80.47 | 80.86 | — | — | 79.83 | 86.45 m | |
| 5 | Juha Laukkanen (FIN) | 84.78 | X | X | X | X | 77.72 | 84.78 m | |
| 6 | Mark Roberson (GBR) | 80.41 | 79.38 | 83.64 | 84.15 | 77.42 | X | 84.15 m | |
| 7 | Peter Blank (GER) | 83.66 | 78.65 | X | 77.20 | 76.87 | X | 83.66 m | |
| 8 | Matti Närhi (FIN) | 82.59 | X | 79.33 | 80.77 | X | X | 82.59 m | |
| 9 | Aki Parviainen (FIN) | X | 82.30 | 81.84 | | | | 82.30 m | |
| 10 | Gregor Högler (AUT) | 81.44 | 81.75 | 73.72 | | | | 81.75 m | |
| 11 | Dariusz Trafas (POL) | 79.53 | 79.79 | 79.77 | | | | 79.79 m | |
| 12 | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 79.73 | X | — | | | | 79.73 m | |