| Medal record | ||
 Pitkämäki after winning the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. |
||
| Men's athletics | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Finland |
||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2008 Beijing | Javelin |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2007 Osaka | Javelin |
| European Championships | ||
| Silver | 2006 Gothenburg | Javelin |
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born December 19, 1982 in Ilmajoki) is a Finnish javelin thrower and the former World Champion. Pitkämäki is known for his rivalry with Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen. The two are very close friends, however.
Pitkämäki finished 8th in the javelin contest at the 2004 Summer Olympics with the result 83.01 m and has since developed into one of the world's leading javelin throwers. As of August 2005, he had thrown 91.53 m, hence he was one of the favorites at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, which were held in his home country. However, he was only fourth with a result of 81.27 m. Pitkämäki took his first medal by placing second at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics.[1]
On Friday 13 July 2007, during the IAAF Golden League meet at Rome's Olimpico Stadium, Tero Pitkämäki threw a javelin too far left and hit French long jumper Salim Sdiri in the side of the back. Sdiri was rushed to a local Rome hospital with non life-threating injuries.[2]
On August 5, Pitkämäki won his 4th Finnish championship in a row with a throw of 89.43 meters. In the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, Pitkämäki secured gold medal in men's javelin with a throw of 89.16 meters. With his last throw in the competition, he bettered his final result to 90.33 meters.[3]
On October 5, 2007, Tero Pitkämäki was honored with the European Athlete of the Year title by the EEA. His 11 wins over the season, including the World Champion title, Golden League in Oslo and Paris, and his season best, also best in Europe, 91.23 meter throw, were the factors for choosing him.[4] In December, Pitkämäki was voted Finnish Sportsman of the Year by the members of the Finnish Sport Journalists Association, beating women's triple world cross country skiing champion Virpi Kuitunen and Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen.[5]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Francis
Obikwelu |
Men's European Athlete of the
Year 2007 |
Succeeded by Andreas
Thorkildsen |
| Preceded by Jukka
Keskisalo |
Finnish Sportspersonality of the
year 2007 |
Succeeded by Satu Mäkelä-Nummela |
| Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Alexandr Ivanov |
Men's Javelin Best Year
Performance 2005 |
Succeeded by Andreas
Thorkildsen |
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Redirecting to Tero Pitkämäki
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