I don't understand how they can erase a record if it was legal under the rules in effect at the time. Start a new set of records for the new rules, but leave the old ones on the books.

"The Olympics, to celebrate the peak of human capability." Also. "Too good! You're too good!"

Imagine being the guy that changed the rules to an event. Absolute legend status right there

I would like to see a 3km long field, with the original javelin. Just imagine what the true world record would be if the field was lengthened.

Javelin: Flies too far. Me: "Make the field longer!" Thanos: "Make the javelin worse."

When talking about Räty, you have to mention his incredible injury record. He was strength first thrower and that really showed in how prone he was to being injured. An absolute legend, and had potential for so much more.

I think this just means the javelin event needs to be moved to a more optimal venue. Instead of limiting the distance because of space, just increase the space.

4:40 When the officials at the end of the tape are all sprinting away from you it's a good hit.

And then Jan Zelezny went on a terror and broke the world record at 98.48 meters and will certainly be called the greatest javelin thrower ever.. Hohn had injuries shortly after his mark of 104 so the consistency of being able to compete was not really there for him.. Raty and Tapio for Finland were great throwers as well..

That slip damaged his ankle and it got worse as the rounds progressed. He kept throwing warm up throws through the competition, just to load up everything on the last one. With a busted support leg, that is supposed to be stomped on the throw line and transfer the running energy to the hand and to the javelin. His growl ends up in an "ai" which is a cry of pain. Seppo Räty is not the kind of guy who cries from pain.

Fun fact: the javelin used by Uwe Hohn for his WR in 1984 was designed by Miklos Nemeth who set the WR in 1976.

Boy, it’d be interesting to see his distance with an earlier, optimized version of the javelin…

The original changes to javelin specs pushed throwers such as myself and many others out of the event. It became much more of a strength event.

The speed of the second change probably has as much to do with bureaucratic inertia as it does with the quality of either of the two throws. Once they decided the javelin could be changed, changing it again would be less of a big deal.

The records count. Each reset generates a new category.

I was a young javelin thrower when this happened, just learning the event, and my dad told me about him throwing 97 metres after he heard about it on the radio. It took my club a while to get the new design javelins, but when they did, even the kiddie ones I was throwing went nearly 10 metres less distance!!!!

Seppo Räty is one of the biggest Finnish legends. He and the ski jumper Matti Nykänen are responsible of half of the funny quotes used by Finns to this day. After throwing this javelin competition in Punkalaidun, reporter wanted to know why he was so good: "I've been getting so good food that I've put in 5 kilos." On preparing for Barcelona Olympics: "I've been driving around with Mika Halvari because it's been so cold." Explaining his smile and handwaving at medal ceremony: "I waved just to fuck around." On losing a competition in Germany: "Germany is a shit country." On preparations for Helsinki EC 1994: "I rest or get drunk." Before 1996 Atlanta Olympics: 500 000 marks in cold cash in my hand, and the stick flies over 100 metres." "Before leaving for Atlanta I decided that I wouldn't speak one word English. Speaking Finnish would have to suffice." "I can throw 60m standing still." "I feel pity for (Usain Bolt's) wife, girlfriend or girlfriends. The guy is done under 20 seconds and already dripping in sweat." Sports reporter asking him to say something with substance/weight: "Caterpillar." On losing a Mercedes in Stuttgart that they gave out to winners: "I didn't even want one, because it's a shabby car." Said to a female javelin thrower Heli Rantanen on the pitch in Atlanta 1996 "Throw so hard that your pussy tears up." and "Throw so hard that you'll piss yourself." Heli won gold. When asked if he'll do a victory lap: "I won't go unless they force me." About an upcoming 20-something thrower: "They can concentrate only on two things. If you try to study, do sports and fuck, there's one thing too many. You can study later."

would be interesting to optimize the javelin as much as possible and see how far a human could take it? Are there other throwing objects that would take it even furter with optimisation? Like a discus or frisbee of some sort?

Thanks for the amazing story I never would have heard anywhere else. Absolutely LOVE this type of stuff, and share it with my dad who loves it too. Thanks again

When you look at the records you have to go to non legal throws to find Ratys throws which were legal at the time but go down to the freethrow category and youll see a distance of 99.25m achieved in 1956.... it was with a spinning technique where the javelin would be held at the hip

Thank you for sharing!

Thanks for this. As a long time aficionado of track and field this history lesson was fascinating.

The change of the implement was not because Hohn threw so far but because there were so many flat or near flat throws and so much discussion about foul or not. The committee proposing the rule change was already finished when Hohn threw over 100 meter.

Perhaps your best work right there!

I’m sorry Mr Beamon, your jump is disqualified because you jumped beyond the length of the sand pit. You could have hurt someone!

I feel like removing records is kind of silly, why not just draw a line after javelin changes where you would count completely new records so they all could co-exist through any javelin changes

It would be cool to see modern day javelin throwers once in a while have competition with old javelins

This is SPARTA !......spear flies from Athens to Babylon.

Notice the number 92 on Räty, the thought was he would throw 92 meters, hence the number.

Golf has the same problem. The equipment manufacturers improve the distance of their clubs and balls. This screws up the challenges that the courses present. The USGA tried to limit the distances. The equipment people sued the USGA. The USGA gave up and instead moved the tees back on the championship courses.

That record 96,96m In Punkaharju, there is metal rod in the ground at the spot.

Cool video! Räty is a legend here in Finland

3:40 look at how the javelin is being twisted! That throw had so much power.

"They had to change the rules of a sport that existed since the ancient Greeks, because I was too good at it," is the greatest thing you can brag about.

They banned the discus type throw for the javelin. But it’s proven that if done right it destroyed records by 30 meters. But they didn’t like that during the windup the javelin would point at the crowd lol.

Thanks great history lesson 👍

Thanks for covering Rätys story.

Was wondering if you can do some digging into the advent of super shoes and how these will affect high jump, pole vault, triple jump, and even long jump. Watched the javelin and was wondering if the shoes could have any effect on it - my mind says it might but it hasn’t been tested yet. But those other events might have the WR threatened by the shoes. Personally, I would hate for the High Jump WR to be broken because of shoes. It would feel quite hollow. But I’m not sure if this could actually happen.

Incredible. 0% relevancy to me but 100% engagement That's good storytelling

This video is guilty of deadnaming!!!

Miguel de la Quadra Salcedo did 112.30 m in 1956, but the Federation changed the rules because he used rotation and that was dangerous.

This is literally the only media I have ever seen regarding the javelin event which made me care about it. Well done, sir.

Seppo Räty is an absolute legend. His quotes are also hilarious.

Fascinating! And while I do agree that it's an absolutely insane throw by Raty that made the associations change the sport again basically immediately, I do wanna point out how impressive it is that they took 2 years after the >100m throw from Uwe Hohn and *nobody managed to beat it in that time*. To me that just means that yes, he had an easier time than any athlete after the change because of the way the javeling was built. But he was also clearly the best because nobody could beat him with that javelin.

Genie. “you have one wish” Me. “I want to roll my R’s!!!!”

I almost skewered my P.E. teacher at school when we did javelin throwing. It was “only” about 56 metres but he was stood a couple of feet from where it landed. Everyone else was throwing more like 30m so he stood down range at around 55m. I had a good arm on me lol. I also got the school record for the discus throw at the time. Running 100m was my thing though, so I didn’t really pursue javelin or discus.

i wouldnt say there was more urgency to change the rules the second time, but because it was done before, they new what to do, that no one would complain etc.

Wow, great pronunciation of Räty!

This man is a Viking, what a boss.

now I want to see a new competition with optimized javelins where the goal is to throw as far as possible.

Imagining this guy traveling back to 110BC and absolutely dominating in a Romain legion, throwing it like 150m

That trip definitely pissed him off, and also shows that he was willing to push the boundary of whats humanly possible, even with balance.

"Coincidentally, the guy that broke the record broke it again." Omg what a spooky coincidence

I saw the world record of Myclos Nemeth at Montreal 76 olympics, 94.58 m, it was awesome!

Zelezny than thrown three times over 95m with the new new javelin. Holding world record of 98,48m since 1996 if I remember correctly

thanks, as cool as the +100m story

They should allow the old records to be broken by using only the same type/style of Javelin that was used to set that record. Doesn't make any sense to change up the Javelin making it less likely to travel as far as the previous ones used before it.

I'm not very interested in javelin throws but OMG this is ridiculously crazy! Mad respect for the Chad that changed the rules of the sport

I'm officially team Seppo!!!

And here I thought this was going to be a video about wind assist 😂😂

I understand the changing of the javelin for safety but....... fuck that. Its the olympics. It should be about how far you can REALLY throw. Make the BEST javelin and make the crowd be further away. Make that javelin fly.

It reminds my of ski jumping/flying. Back in the days of ski jumping mutliple times every jump above one point was rated with this point. When i am right for example there was a time every jump above 185 did count as 185 metres. Bc of this system many people disnt get his world record...

"woah! These people almost got hit!" "So... Tell them to not stand right in front of the spear being thrown this way?" "Nah, make the spear heavier and delete the WR"

At 3:00 the British announcer sounds like he is coming straight from his Monty Python routine.

He certainly finished that iteration of the javelin.

Räty was also a legendary personality. F in comments for those who don't know :D

I dont know why youtube recommended this but i was definitely not disappointed for omce.

Although there could've been "more urgency" to change the rules during the second reset, that's not how these things work out. When the first reset was originally proposed it was well before 100 had been reached, while world records and personal bests were getting further and further at rapid speeds. Fundamental R&D was denied under the assumption that 100+ was impossible, and once it was real the idea of changing the sport was heavily controversial and there were alot of disagreements between what should be changed, if anything, thus taking 2 years to complete. After reseting once, the bodies that had formed to come out with new ideas didn't just vanish and instead continued to study and notice rapidly increasing times again. Feedback from athletes from the first reset, continued R&D, and more importantly the lack of overal controversy since large scale changes had been done before, vastly increased the time that the new guidelines could be imposed. The next time it changes again it will be just as fast or even faster, regardless of how quickly the athletes are improving. I'm absolutely not saying he's bad or not deserving of an urgent rules change, the guy is clearly an insanely great athlete, it's just that it's worth pointing out that changes to sports often start with heavy controversy, and once the first changes come into effect, it's alot easier and more accepted to make future changes. Once athletes and fans get out of the "this game is sacred and should never change" mindset, the idea of changing the game to make it more fun, rewarding, competitive, or simply to iron out missing or bad rules is something that overall a good thing for sports.

any time i see javelin throwers that fall is completely terrifying to think of. That was soooo close to piercing his hand, and with most of his body weight on it...that would go through with no effort.

Jojo Vetter's 97.74m is arguably the true world record given it was inside a stadium. Zelezny's WR had a nice tailwind.

No mention of the true hero. The always overlooked and forgotten javelin catcher.

"Saksa on paska maa" - Seppo Räty

i hate that they slowed down the javelin, they should instead longer field and let anyone use whatever javelin they want and whatever technique they want, i want to see the how far it can go using the most optimal technique and materials, if your putting limits ,you might as well just use a wooden stick as it in no way shape or form represents the best of human capability

“One of the best athletic events to ever occur” 💀

Its 900AD and youre an english saxon fisherman and you look through the waves and see this dude launch a javelin at you from his viking longship 100+m away

I was there during 96.96m throw, went behind a birch to pee before my own event and saw berhind my neck how the spear just flew and flew... it was windy that day but certainly with the old long sliding javelin model it would had went easily over 100m.

They should just have javelin competitions outside of stadiums. Changing the material just to keep them under 100m does not seem to be in the sense of the sport. Or let them have an inside and outside category. This happens in a lot of sports.

Considering nutrition and medicine always advance Id assume that it would take a long time to reach the mechanical extreme of the human body. All we keep doing atm is moving the edge as we move the average forward.

Every time they say his name I keep thinking of a robot. The day the earth stood still.😂😂

I have to wonder how far they could throw an OPTIMIZED javelin.

I would like like to clarify for everybody that this throw is not the current wolrd record. The world record was set by Jan Železný in 1996 with his throw at 98.5 meters. Železný is the only person to ever throw above 95 meters 3 times in professional competition. I'm surprised this video didn't mention him as the person who set the bar too high.

If this guy was able to throw that far with an unoptimized javelin, I wanna know what he could do with the better one

"and with this throw in 1991 he more than earned this legendary nickname" Because nothing is known for throwing things as much as bears i suppose.

It's easier to change the javelins than to change every terrain, or change the scheduling of the events during track and field meetd

Honestly you would think that instead of trying to redesign the javelin - they would try to switch to a cross type field, where you would throw from one angular line to the next to increase distance, as the javelin should be the BEST you can get to substantiate just how good humanity is This is honestly disheartening. I WANT to see how far humans can throw a sharp stick WITHOUT making it harder on them.

With the limitations of stadiums I understand throwing the inferior spear, but now I'm wondering how far the best athletes in the world could throw the "perfect" spear.

Incorrect info. The correct info is that there was already talk about changing the design before Hohn's legendary throw and all that throw did is speed up the implementation of what was already in the works. They knew a massive throw would happen, they just didn't know it would be so soon. The javelin was changed not BECAUSE of Hohn's throw but because his massive throw was premature.

Would be interesting to have than just counting the horizontal distance. Would be great to have competitions for height and for accuracy too😊😊

He beat the game and unlocked hard mode.

i wonder just how far a perfect javelin could be thrown

There are world record and then there is this kind of archievement, we should get a new term tl celebrate this level of wonder

Why not just make the field longer, or move back the starting line? Or how about just not having people in the line of fire?

I don't get the comparison who's throw was more iconic as the governing body simply had experience in how to deal with the situation

Seppo is legendary, the things he say are legendary also.

I wonder how many people if any, could beat this if we reverted the rules…

shocked that you doesn't speak about Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo and the "spanish rotational style" of throwing latter banned by the federation

Have they ever, I dont know, thought of extending the field?

I just woke up, I’m so confused.

bunch of old men deciding its too early for them to get trashed

The same thing happened with the U.S. M1 Rifle used in WWII. Not only did some commanders not allow the full 8 round clips, limiting the troops to 3 or 1 round clips, when the rifle was being tested, the range exceeded the “safe zone” for the shooting ranges, so the Army brass developed the M2 round with a shorter range - they removed some of the boat tail from the end of the round. The US fought WW II with an hobbled rifle, so the shooting ranges didn’t need to be changed.