- Tero Pitkämäki
Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born
December 19 ,1982 inIlmajoki ) is a Finnishjavelin throw er and the current World Champion. Pitkämäki is known for his rivalry with Olympic championAndreas Thorkildsen . The two are very close friends, however.Career
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 the2005 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 the2006 European Championships in Athletics . [cite web | title=Tero Pitkämäki wins javelin silver in Gothenburg | work=Helsingin Sanomat | url=http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Tero+Pitk%C3%A4m%C3%A4ki+wins+javelin+silver+in+Gothenburg/1135221002014 | accessdate=2007-09-05]On
Friday 13 July 2007, during the IAAF Golden League meet atRome 's Olimpico Stadium, Tero Pitkämäki threw a javelin too far left and hit French long jumperSalim Sdiri in the side of the back. Sdiri was rushed to a local Rome hospital with non life-threating injuries. [cite web | title=Accident overshadows Powell show | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/6898520.stm | accessdate=2007-09-05]On
August 5 , Pitkämäki won his 4th Finnish championship in a row with a throw of 89.43 meters. In the2007 World Championships in Athletics inOsaka ,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. [cite web | title=Finn Pitkamaki goes big to claim javelin gold | work=Guardian Unlimited | url=http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6891744,00.html | accessdate=2007-09-05]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. [cite web | title=24-year-old Tero Pitkämäki wins the Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year 2007 | work=European Athletic Association | url=http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5628&Itemid=2 | accessdate=2007-10-05] In December, Pitkämäki was voted Finnish Sportsman of the Year by the members of the Finnish Sport Journalists Association, beating women's triple worldcross country skiing championVirpi Kuitunen andFormula One world championKimi Räikkönen . [cite web | title=F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen beaten by Pitkämäki in race for annual sports award | work=IAAF | url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=42710.html | accessdate=2007-12-20]References
External links
* [http://www.teropitkamaki.com/ Official website]
*iaaf name|id=177485|name=Tero Pitkämäki
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