The History of Javelin throw

Hello everyone,

Tarun Wordsmith is here again for telling you the most interesting thing that our past has given us - History.

First of all I congratulate Neeraj Chopra, the hero for the nation for breaking his own record in the field of Javelin throw, representing the Indian talent on international stage.

And as the sport - Javelin throw is now becoming highly popular in India, its time for all of us to know its history and examining the growth of the sport.

So let's get started.

Javelin throw in Ancient History:

Have you ever noticed the technique of javelin throw, it might be very easy for you to know that why this technique might have been in use in ancient time. I may give its credit to movies.

So yupp its right that this technique was used for hunting in all the civilizations all around the world. And now the question arises that Why the technique is to be practiced and has to be perfect?

There is a direct answer for it must be perfect as at that time, this had been a question of life and death.

• If a person is successful, he may feed his own family

• But in case he is unsuccessful, then his body may feed someone else's family

The technique of throwing a javelin far and accurately was practiced in Ancient Greece. Initially, there too it was practiced as the a hunting and fighting activity. But gradually gathered importance and was included in The Ancient Olympic game in 708 BCE. The important feature to be noted was that both men and women took part in this sport.

Javelin throw in Medieval and modern times:

The Javelin was most commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. There it was used by the name Pilum.

In the late Roman Empire, the Roman infantry came to use a differently-shaped javelin from the earlier pilum. This javelin was lighter and had a greater range.

Talking of the further European areas, the javelin was considered as an important weapon as being hold by the chief God - Odin.

Also, in Lusitanian mythology god Runesocesius is identified as a "god of the javelin."

Javelin is also considered very famous in the African region, where it became famous after they were used in by the Numidian tribes. Still Javelins are the important part of African warfare.

Javelin throw in India:

Javelin has been an important part of the Indian history as well. Archeologists have also found the evidences about Javelins used by warriors and soldiers.

It has been among the core weapons used by Aryans during the war.

We can also seen the Javelin throw expert - Yudhishthira in the great epic Mahabharata. The Javelins could most commonly be seen in the hands of royal guards, or warriors performing one to one combat.

During the Hunting practices in India, the kings and the tribal people used the Javelins before the coming up of Guns.

Javelin throw in Olympics:

And since 1908 for men and 1932 for women, it has become a important sport in the Olympics.

In 1986 the men's javelin was redesigned; its centre of gravity was moved forward by four cm. This shortened throwing distances by approximately 10 per cent

This move was made because the men, following a world record of 104.80m by East Germany's Uwe Hohn in 1984, were in danger of throwing the javelin beyond the space available in normal stadiums.

In 1999, the women's javelin was similarly redesigned.

The Czech athlete Jan Zelezny is regarded as the finest make javelin thrower in history.

He won a hat-trick of Olympic titles from 1992-2000 and set the world record of 98.48m in 1996.

So guys, hope you liked today's blog on History. Keep following, stay connected to enhance your knowledge.