# Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

The men's javelin throw competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium between August 17–20.

## Summary

Defending champion, Keshorn Walcott started the final with a respectable 83.45 m. The second thrower was Johannes Vetter who topped it with an 85.32 m. The eighth thrower in the round was reigning World Champion Julius Yego, who tossed it 88.24 m (289 ft 6 in), landing on his hands to avoid a face plant on the runway. He moved into the gold medal position. The next competitor was the number one thrower in 2016, Thomas Röhler who answered with an 87.40 m to move into silver position. On his second attempt, Walcott threw it 85.38 to move into bronze position by just 6 cm, still more than 3 metres short of the mark he threw in the qualifying round. Nobody was able to improve in the next two rounds. As the final thrower in the fourth round, Yego twisted his left ankle during his fouled attempt. He limped to the bench and was wheelchair out of the stadium still in gold medal position. On his fifth attempt, Röhler threw it 90.30 m (296 ft 3 in), less than a foot short of the Olympic record, to move ahead of Yego. Nobody was able to improve their position in the final round and the gold medal was confirmed. After treatment, Yego limped back into the stadium to congratulate Röhler and celebrate his silver medal by limping around his victory lap.
The medals for the competition were presented by Richard Peterkin, St. Lucia, Member of the International Olympic Committee, and the gifts were presented by Antti Pihlakoski, IAAF Council Member.

## Competition format

Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. The nine athletes who achieved the qualifying distance progressed to the final. A further three athletes who did not achieve the qualifying distance also advanced to the final. All twelve starters were allowed three throws in the final, with the top eight athletes after that point receiving three further attempts.

## Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 17 August 2016 | 20:30 | Qualifications |
| Saturday, 20 August 2016 | 20:55 | Finals |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Jan Železný (CZE) | 98.48 m | Jena, Germany | 25 May 1996 |
| Olympic record | Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR) | 90.57 m | Beijing, China | 23 August 2008 |
| 2016 World leading | Thomas Röhler (GER) | 91.28 m | Turku, Finland | 29 June 2016 |

## Results
### Qualifying round

Qualification rule: qualification standard 83.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).
| Rank | Group | Name | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | Result | Notes |
| 1 | B | Keshorn Walcott | Trinidad and Tobago | 88.68 | | | 88.68 | Q |
| 2 | B | Johannes Vetter | Germany | 85.96 | | | 85.96 | Q |
| 3 | A | Julian Weber | Germany | 84.46 | | | 84.46 | Q |
| 4 | B | Ryohei Arai | Japan | 84.16 | | | 84.16 | Q |
| 5 | B | Petr Frydrych | Czech Republic | 78.57 | 80.17 | 83.60 | 83.60 | Q |
| 6 | B | Julius Yego | Kenya | 78.88 | x | 83.55 | 83.55 | Q |
| 7 | A | Jakub Vadlejch | Czech Republic | 78.23 | 80.90 | 83.27 | 83.27 | Q |
| 8 | A | Dmytro Kosynskyy | Ukraine | 80.08 | 76.79 | 83.23 | 83.23 | Q |
| 9 | A | Thomas Röhler | Germany | 79.47 | 81.61 | 83.01 | 83.01 | Q |
| 10 | B | Vítězslav Veselý | Czech Republic | 81.32 | 81.32 | 82.85 | 82.85 | q |
| 11 | B | Antti Ruuskanen | Finland | 82.20 | x | x | 82.20 | q |
| 12 | A | Braian Toledo | Argentina | 78.99 | 81.96 | 80.36 | 81.96 | q |
| 13 | A | Joshua Robinson | Australia | 78.87 | 80.84 | 76.78 | 80.84 | |
| 14 | B | Zigismunds Sirmais | Latvia | 76.87 | 80.65 | 75.95 | 80.65 | |
| 15 | A | Marcin Krukowski | Poland | x | 78.06 | 80.62 | 80.62 | |
| 16 | B | Júlio César de Oliveira | Brazil | 79.33 | 80.49 | 80.29 | 80.49 | |
| 17 | A | Kim Amb | Sweden | 77.91 | 78.75 | 80.49 | 80.49 | |
| 18 | B | Tanel Laanmäe | Estonia | 80.45 | 78.78 | 79.24 | 80.45 | |
| 19 | B | John Ampomah | Ghana | 79.09 | 80.39 | 78.90 | 80.39 | |
| 20 | A | Cyrus Hostetler | United States | 76.48 | 78.69 | 79.76 | 79.76 | |
| 21 | A | Tero Pitkämäki | Finland | 77.91 | 78.58 | 79.56 | 79.56 | |
| 22 | A | Risto Mätas | Estonia | 76.23 | 79.26 | 79.40 | 79.40 | |
| 23 | A | Magnus Kirt | Estonia | x | 77.60 | 79.33 | 79.33 | |
| 24 | A | Rocco van Rooyen | South Africa | x | 71.05 | 78.48 | 78.48 | SB |
| 25 | B | Hamish Peacock | Australia | 77.91 | 76.22 | 76.40 | 77.91 | |
| 26 | B | Ivan Zaytsev | Uzbekistan | 73.49 | 72.92 | 77.83 | 77.83 | |
| 27 | B | Ari Mannio | Finland | 77.14 | 76.77 | 77.73 | 77.73 | |
| 28 | A | Rolands Štrobinders | Latvia | 76.76 | x | 77.73 | 77.73 | |
| 29 | A | Stuart Farquhar | New Zealand | 74.24 | 77.32 | 74.38 | 77.32 | |
| 30 | A | Ahmed Bader Magour | Qatar | x | 77.19 | x | 77.19 | |
| 31 | B | Łukasz Grzeszczuk | Poland | 76.31 | 76.52 | 76.14 | 76.52 | |
| 32 | A | Leslie Copeland | Fiji | 76.04 | 75.68 | x | 76.04 | |
| 33 | B | Huang Shih-feng | Chinese Taipei | 74.33 | x | x | 74.33 | |
| 34 | B | Sam Crouser | United States | 73.78 | 73.66 | x | 73.78 | |
| 35 | B | Sean Furey | United States | 69.40 | 72.61 | 71.35 | 72.61 | |
| 36 | A | RM Sumeda Ranasinghe | Sri Lanka | 69.62 | 71.93 | x | 71.93 | |
| — | A | Bobur Shokirjonov | Uzbekistan | x | x | x | NM | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | Result | Notes |
| | Thomas Röhler | Germany | 87.40 | 85.61 | 87.07 | 84.84 | 90.30 | x | 90.30 | |
| | Julius Yego | Kenya | 88.24 | x | – | x | * | * | 88.24 | SB |
| | Keshorn Walcott | Trinidad and Tobago | 83.45 | 85.38 | 83.38 | 80.33 | x | x | 85.38 | |
| 4 | Johannes Vetter | Germany | 85.32 | x | 82.54 | x | 83.61 | 81.74 | 85.32 | |
| 5 | Dmytro Kosynskyy | Ukraine | 82.51 | 83.95 | 83.64 | 81.61 | 81.21 | x | 83.95 | PB |
| 6 | Antti Ruuskanen | Finland | x | 77.81 | 83.05 | x | x | 80.00 | 83.05 | |
| 7 | Vítězslav Veselý | Czech Republic | 78.20 | 82.51 | x | x | x | 78.63 | 82.51 | |
| 8 | Jakub Vadlejch | Czech Republic | 80.02 | 82.42 | 81.59 | 80.32 | x | x | 82.42 | |
| 9 | Julian Weber | Germany | 80.29 | 80.13 | 81.36 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 81.36 | |
| 10 | Braian Toledo | Argentina | 77.89 | 79.51 | 79.81 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 79.81 | |
| 11 | Ryohei Arai | Japan | 77.98 | 79.47 | 72.49 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 79.47 | |
| 12 | Petr Frydrych | Czech Republic | 76.15 | 76.79 | 79.12 | did not advance | did not advance | did not advance | 79.12 | |
* – Julius Yego retired from the competition after his fourth throw due to an ankle injury, but nevertheless won silver due to his first throw.