Uwe Hohn

Uwe Hohn

Uwe Hohn in 1984
Personal information
Nationality	East Germany
Born	July 16, 1962 (age 53) Neuruppin, Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	116 kg (256 lb)
Sport
Country	East Germany
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Javelin throw
Club	ASK Vorwärts Potsdam
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	104.80 m (1984)
Medal record Competitor for  East Germany Men's Athletics IAAF Continental Cup 1985 Canberra Javelin European Championships 1982 Athens Javelin

Uwe Hohn (born 16 July 1962 in Neuruppin, Brandenburg) is a former German track and field athlete and coach. Hohn is the only athlete to throw a javelin more than 100 meters, with his world record of 104.80 m (343 ft 9³⁄₄ in).

On 20 July 1984, competing in the Olympic Day of Athletics competition at the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark, Berlin, Hohn threw the javelin a distance of 104.80 m (343 ft 9³⁄₄ in). Hohn's incredible throw had shattered the previous world standard of 99.72 meters set by Tom Petranoff of the United States in May 1983. Contrary to a popular myth however, this was not the primary reason for the change in javelin design rules that came into force starting in 1986;^[1] the relevant changes had already been officially proposed prior to Hohn's record throw, not only to shorten distances but even more to get rid of the then frequent flat or ambiguous landings, which often made it hard to assess if a throw should be declared legal – most famously in the high-profile case at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow where the eventual winner Dainis Kūla only progressed to the last three rounds with an apparently flat throw. Ambiguous landings were also much more difficult to measure accurately, compared to clearly legal ones where the javelin would stick in the ground at the landing spot.

The record statistics therefore had to be restarted, and the mark of Uwe Hohn became an "eternal world record". The current world record under the new rules is Jan Železný's 98.48 m (323 ft 1 in), set in 1996.

The GDR boycotted the 1984 Olympic Games, and Hohn was included in that boycott and could not win an international medal in the year that he achieved his world record. Two years later, his career ended after several setbacks due to surgery. He then became an assistant coach, and since 1999 he has worked as a coach at SC Potsdam, the successor of ASK Vorwärts Potsdam, where he started his career as a sportsman.

Hohn has been married since 1983 and has two children. He is 1.98 metres (6 ft 6 in) tall and had a match weight of 112 kg.

Achievements

• 1976 to 1980: GDR champion for his age group
• 1981: European junior champion for the GDR starting in Utrecht with 86.58 m; European junior record with 86.58 m
• 1982: European Champion in Athens with 91.34 m
• 1984: GDR sportsman of the year. Threw the longest men's javelin throw ever at 104.80 m.
• 1985: Won the javelin event at the 1985 IAAF World Cup - Canberra with 96.96 m (best performance in the world that year^[2])
• 1985: Set a championship record of 92.88 m at the 1985 European Cup

References

1. Erich Bremicker. "Why did the senior javelin specification have to be changed?".
2. World Top Performers 1980-2005: Men (Outdoor) - GBR Athletics