The world’s best javelin throwers have started strutting their stuff on the runway at the Stade de France. No other animal can throw a weighty object at high speed with accuracy, which means the winners can truly call themselves the skill’s greatest exponents on Earth (certainly, the fastest swimmers, runners and jumpers can’t make the same claim). Australian Mackenzie Little at a competition in London last month.
Credit: Getty Images But raw power alone doesn’t secure victory. A mastery of the wind, aerodynamics and energy separates the best from the rest. The javelin’s journey through the air begins long before it leaves the thrower’s hand.
It starts with the run-up, a crucial phase where kinetic energy – the energy of movement – is built up. This isn’t a simple sprint; each athlete must find their perfect speed, fast enough to generate substantial energy but controlled enough to precisely execute the complex throwing sequence. As they approach the throw, athletes transform their bodies into coiled springs.
Turning sideways and performing crossover steps, they set themselves up for a rapid rotation that injects additional energy into the throw. This positioning is crucial because, surprisingly, the arm muscles used in throwing a javelin are relatively small. The majority of the javelin’s eventual flight energy comes from the run-up and rotation.
The delivery step is where physics takes centre stage. As the thrower slams their front leg into the ground, r.