Tero Pitkämäki facts for kids
Tero Pitkämäki in 2014
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 19 December 1982 Ilmajoki, Finland |
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| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 92 kg (203 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Finland |
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| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Javelin throw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Nurmon Urheilijat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 91.53 m (2005) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born December 19, 1982) is a retired Finnish athlete. He was a professional in the javelin throw, which is a sport where athletes throw a spear-like object as far as possible. Tero is famous for winning a gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. His best throw ever was 91.53 meters (about 300 feet) in 2005. This amazing throw makes him one of the best javelin throwers in history.
Contents
Tero's Early Life
Tero Pitkämäki was born on December 19, 1982, in a small village called Ahonkylä in Ilmajoki, Finland. He became interested in javelin throwing when he was just eight years old.
He was inspired by watching the 1991 World Championships. In that event, two Finnish athletes, Kimmo Kinnunen and Seppo Räty, won both gold and silver medals. This made Tero want to try javelin himself.
After watching the championships, Tero joined a youth competition. He threw the javelin 22 meters, which was 10 meters farther than anyone else! He often practiced throwing at home. Once, his javelin even went through his neighbor's roof by accident!
Tero's Amazing Career
Tero Pitkämäki became one of the world's top javelin throwers. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he finished 8th. He threw the javelin 83.01 meters.
In August 2005, he threw an incredible 91.53 meters. This made him a favorite for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics held in his home country. However, he finished 4th in that competition.
Tero won his first major medal at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. He earned a silver medal there.
A Surprising Moment
On July 13, 2007, during a competition in Rome, something unexpected happened. Tero Pitkämäki threw his javelin, but it went a little off course. It accidentally hit a French long jumper named Salim Sdiri in the back. Luckily, Sdiri was not seriously hurt and recovered well.
Winning Gold and Awards
Just a few weeks later, on August 5, Tero won his fourth Finnish championship in a row. He threw 89.43 meters.
Then, at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Japan, Tero Pitkämäki won the gold medal! His winning throw was 89.16 meters, and he improved it to 90.33 meters with his final throw.
Later that year, Tero received two big honors:
- He was named the European Athlete of the Year. This was because he won 11 competitions that season, including the World Championships.
- He was voted Finnish Sportsman of the Year. He beat other famous Finnish athletes like Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen.
In September 2015, Tero won his first title from the IAAF Diamond League. This is a series of top athletics competitions.
Retirement from Sport
Tero Pitkämäki announced he was retiring from javelin throwing on October 14, 2019. He had injured his knee in 2018. Even though he recovered from the pain, his knee wasn't as strong as it used to be.
He felt that he could no longer throw far enough to compete at the highest level. He had hoped to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics, but decided to retire earlier. Tero explained that his passion for the sport faded when he realized he couldn't perform at his best anymore.
Tero's Best Throws Each Year
This chart shows Tero Pitkämäki's best javelin throw distance for each year of his career:
- 1999 – 66.83 meters
- 2000 – 73.75 meters
- 2001 – 74.89 meters
- 2002 – 77.24 meters
- 2003 – 80.45 meters
- 2004 – 84.64 meters
- 2005 – 91.53 meters (his personal best!)
- 2006 – 91.11 meters
- 2007 – 91.23 meters
- 2008 – 87.70 meters
- 2009 – 87.79 meters
- 2010 – 86.92 meters
- 2011 – 85.33 meters
- 2012 – 86.98 meters
- 2013 – 89.03 meters
- 2014 – 86.63 meters
- 2015 – 89.09 meters
- 2016 – 86.13 meters
- 2017 – 88.27 meters
- 2018 – 82.64 meters
See also
In Spanish: Tero Pitkämäki para niños
