# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

The men's javelin throw event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 38 competitors, with two qualifying groups (38 throwers) before the final (12) took place on Sunday September 25, 1988. This was the first time that the competitors had to use the new javelin. The qualification mark was set at 79.00 metres.

## Medalists

| Gold | Tapio Korjus Finland |
| Silver | Jan Železný Czechoslovakia |
| Bronze | Seppo Räty Finland |

## Schedule

* All times are Korea Standard Time (UTC+9)
Qualification Round :
| Group A | Group B |
| 24.09.1988 – 09:40h | 24.09.1988 – 11:00h |
| Final Round ||
| 25.09.1988 – 12:00h ||

## Abbreviations

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

## Records

Standing records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics :
| World Record | Jan Železný (TCH) | 87.66 m | May 31, 1987 | Nitra, Czechoslovakia |
| Olympic Record | Miklós Németh (HUN) | 94.58 m | July 25, 1976 | Montreal, Canada |
| Broken records during the 1988 Summer Olympics |||||
| Olympic Record | Seppo Räty (FIN) | 76.76 m | September 24, 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Olympic Record | Kazuhiro Mizoguchi (JPN) | 77.44 m | September 24, 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Olympic Record | Peter Borglund (SWE) | 78.66 m | September 24, 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Olympic Record | Jan Železný (TCH) | 85.90 m | September 24, 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |

## Qualification
### Group A

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 1 | Jan Železný (TCH) | 85.90 | — | — | 85.90 m |
| 2 | 2 | Seppo Räty (FIN) | 76.76 | 77.70 | 81.62 | 81.62 m |
| 3 | 6 | Vladimir Ovchinnikov (URS) | X | 77.68 | 80.26 | 80.26 m |
| 4 | 7 | Kimmo Kinnunen (FIN) | 77.22 | 80.24 | — | 80.24 m |
| 5 | 8 | Gerald Weiß (GDR) | 78.20 | 74.80 | 80.22 | 80.22 m |
| 6 | 9 | Peter Borglund (SWE) | 78.66 | 73.76 | 80.16 | 80.16 m |
| 7 | 10 | Sejad Krdžalić (YUG) | 72.40 | 78.06 | 79.90 | 79.90 m |
| 8 | 13 | Einar Vilhjálmsson (ISL) | 78.46 | 75.64 | 78.92 | 78.92 m |
| 9 | 18 | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 71.42 | 75.04 | 77.48 | 77.48 m |
| 10 | 19 | Kazuhiro Mizoguchi (JPN) | 77.44 | X | 77.46 | 77.46 m |
| 11 | 24 | Rudolf Steiner (SUI) | 76.02 | 67.56 | X | 76.02 m |
| 12 | 25 | Roald Bradstock (GBR) | 75.96 | 73.66 | 72.60 | 75.96 m |
| 13 | 29 | Brian Crouser (USA) | 72.66 | 72.64 | 72.72 | 72.72 m |
| 14 | 30 | Charlus Bertimon (FRA) | 70.84 | 70.58 | 70.48 | 70.84 m |
| 15 | 31 | Mike Mahovlich (CAN) | X | 69.44 | 67.32 | 69.44 m |
| 16 | 32 | Stéphane Laporte (FRA) | 63.66 | X | 69.40 | 69.40 m |
| 17 | 34 | Zakayo Malekwa (TAN) | X | 67.14 | 67.56 | 67.56 m |
| 18 | 35 | Ghanem Zaid (KUW) | 62.88 | 63.50 | 65.84 | 65.84 m |
| 19 | 37 | Paul Hurlston (CAY) | X | 62.34 | 61.78 | 62.34 m |

### Group B

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 3 | Tapio Korjus (FIN) | 76.42 | 78.26 | 81.42 | 81.42 m |
| 2 | 4 | David Ottley (GBR) | 80.98 | — | — | 80.98 m |
| 3 | 5 | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 77.98 | 75.08 | 80.52 | 80.52 m |
| 4 | 11 | Dag Wennlund (SWE) | X | 79.66 | — | 79.66 m |
| 5 | 12 | Viktor Yevsyukov (URS) | 71.18 | 79.26 | — | 79.26 m |
| 6 | 14 | Dave Stephens (USA) | 78.42 | 76.80 | 70.86 | 78.42 m |
| 7 | 15 | Silvio Warsönke (GDR) | 75.88 | 75.78 | 78.22 | 78.22 m |
| 8 | 16 | Lee Uk-jong (KOR) | X | 67.96 | 78.10 | 78.10 m |
| 9 | 17 | Detlef Michel (GDR) | 73.54 | 77.68 | 77.70 | 77.70 m |
| 10 | 20 | Mick Hill (GBR) | 77.20 | 74.98 | 72.98 | 77.20 m |
| 11 | 21 | Masami Yoshida (JPN) | 74.76 | 71.38 | 76.90 | 76.90 m |
| 12 | 22 | Terry McHugh (IRL) | 76.46 | 73.34 | 69.18 | 76.46 m |
| 13 | 23 | Pascal Lefèvre (FRA) | 76.42 | 74.56 | 72.90 | 76.42 m |
| 14 | 26 | Zdeněk Nenadál (TCH) | 75.56 | 69.78 | 75.34 | 75.56 m |
| 15 | 27 | Sigurður Einarsson (ISL) | 69.18 | 72.90 | 75.52 | 75.52 m |
| 16 | 28 | Stephen Feraday (CAN) | 68.78 | 66.22 | 73.32 | 73.32 m |
| 17 | 33 | Justin Arop (UGA) | 67.54 | 69.10 | 67.68 | 69.10 m |
| 18 | 36 | Hafez El-Hussein (SYR) | 63.34 | 63.34 | 63.30 | 63.34 m |
| 19 | 38 | Abdul Azim Al-Aliwat (KSA) | 56.32 | 53.32 | 49.48 | 56.32 m |

## Final

| Rank | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance |
| | Tapio Korjus (FIN) | 82.74 | 76.26 | — | — | X | 84.28 | 84.28 m |
| | Jan Železný (TCH) | X | 82.32 | 81.60 | 83.46 | 77.88 | 84.12 | 84.12 m |
| | Seppo Räty (FIN) | 80.00 | 76.26 | 83.26 | 78.74 | 80.66 | 80.44 | 83.26 m |
| 4 | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 80.14 | 78.72 | 78.28 | X | 77.76 | 82.72 | 82.72 m |
| 5 | Viktor Yevsyukov (URS) | 81.42 | 82.32 | X | 80.38 | 81.42 | 79.52 | 82.32 m |
| 6 | Gerald Weiß (GDR) | 80.66 | 81.30 | 79.94 | 77.26 | 77.80 | 78.28 | 81.30 m |
| 7 | Vladimir Ovchinnikov (URS) | 76.48 | 76.58 | 79.12 | X | 77.32 | 74.64 | 79.12 m |
| 8 | Dag Wennlund (SWE) | 76.88 | 75.62 | 78.30 | X | 76.60 | X | 78.30 m |
| 9 | Peter Borglund (SWE) | 78.16 | 78.22 | 74.76 | | | | 78.22 m |
| 10 | Kimmo Kinnunen (FIN) | 75.62 | 77.78 | 78.04 | | | | 78.04 m |
| 11 | David Ottley (GBR) | 74.52 | 75.70 | 76.96 | | | | 76.96 m |
| 12 | Sejad Krdžalić (YUG) | 72.12 | 73.28 | X | | | | 73.28 m |