Met him at our local track when I was a kid, he was promoting athletics throwing events for schools. He did a few throws of at least 80m, I got his autograph on my t-shirt. Amazing
19:10 You didnt mention it but even though he retired at the age of 40 he finished 3rd at his last WCH in Göteborg and I will add just one comparison - Zelezny threw over 90m 52 times, everyone else in the history combined together threw over 90m 32 times. That's just pure greatness !
Technically, Gothenburg 2006 was the European championships, not the world championships. Not taking away from the amazing feat of doing that at the age of 40, though.
@@patheddles4004 Zelezny has 34 90m+ throws, which is nearly 1/3 of the total 90m+ throws. In terms of events, with a 90m+ throw, it is 28 to 22 for Zelezny.
Zelezny retired in 2006 and started coaching. I heard in 2008 during a winter training camp he got frustrated at the athletes he was coaching and threw a javelin over 85 meters as an example how it is done. What a legend.
I was a Decathlete training in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2000-2001 and I remember we couldn’t do our warm up laps around the 400m track when Železny was throwing because apparently he actually overthrew the sector and stuck a Javelin in the surface of the track, well over 100m. It was unreal to watch him practice.
lmao imagining practicing your throw and sniping some guy on the sprint track 100 meters away. *points to someone on the opposite side of the field* "See that guy? Watch out lol, he's gonna snipe you"
@@zerotwoisreal Tero Pitkämäki threw his javelin through a French(?) athlete who was prepping for his long jump. I think the javelin went through his liver, but he made it out alive. This happened in an official competition.
But ultimately if you put the sport itself in perspective (as in how many people actually try to compete professionally) say vrs running or swimming where far more people participate in it. I mean it not easy to practice the sport safety or properly like having a marked field in a stadium you can practice in. It’s a very impressive record and story but for me as less people are involved in the sport the odds are far higher that you could rise above the competition (as there is less of it) than say running/sprinting. So sprinting for me is still No.1 and the most famous all time greats are still those in sprinting or long distance running.
Yeah n a slap on the face of biased regulations, i mean this was God gifted huh, ....the man was made to achieve greatness in this particular discipline!
@@sam-kid still, the person to actually do with the javelin, what it was made for, is Pitkamekki. He pierced it into a guys liver if i remember correctly
He use his whip technique but never dislocated his shoulder means that his form is just literally perfect because if your form is slightly of, your shoulder would certainly popped out with that much force.
After making his commitment to never fault out again I could see he would plant that left foot at the end of the throw like a demon. Man, the force on that leg all the way up the body! Knock out a regular bloke's fillings.
I think you're skipping the fact that his ulner collateral ligament survived his training let alone his actual competition throws!!! I think it's measured that a 5 oz baseball pitched at 95 mph is something like 800 lb of force put onto that tiny ligament hence us knowing the injury repair as "The Tommy John Surgery" after the first pitcher to successfully receive the surgery and make a come back.
He probably did both many times, and worked through it with PT and willpower. Lots of athletes give themselves horrible long term damage by "playing through the pain". If it was worth it to him, then good, I say. He seemed to love the sport.
Means the same thing in Russian, curiously enough. Slavic language similarities, I guess. Zhelezo (noun) - iron. Zhelezni (adjective) - made of iron (masculine). Zheleznaya (feminine). Zheleznoye (neutral). This dude was unbelievable, regardless. I hate how they "disqualified" his early records because the "governing body" hadn't "approved" the implement being thrown. What a pile of bull💩. Sanctioned events, sanctioned rules, sanctioned everything. Yet as soon as the guy shatters the world record, they gasp and unexpectedly realize they handed him an "unsanctioned" and "unverified" jav. These judging tůrds should be laid out on the ground at 90-meter mark next time. Perhaps they'll sanction everything pertaining to javelin throw more thoroughly, including the javelin 😹
I can never get over the fact that that standing world record throw looked like it was easy compared to many other of his throws. Like he really didn't put that much into it, the technique was so pure.
@@scopie49 I was thinking the same thing, Im not an expert at all on the sport but, maybe putting extra force in causes you to need extra room to land on your hands? That's 1 thing I noticed about some of these. But it's stil possible he could have got 100. Imagine if he was in Colorado with the thin air, he could maybe have even broken the old pre 1984 record that is now not counted!
@@MoneyHoneyBunny He stays so far behind the line because he's worried about fouling. Despite the perfect form he sometimes does get tripped up and stumbles after the throw. So he's safely behind the line just in case but also sacrifices his total distance. It adds a level of technical skill to be required to throw behind the line but his actual throw was much further than recorded. That's what I find impressive. Breaks a record that could have been like 1m further.
I spent my entire college career emulating this man’s technique and I’m so happy to see a thorough accounting of his Herculean career. I ended up winning an ACC championship with a throw of 73.04m back in 2003 while attending Georgia Tech. Beaux Greer was reigning US champ and no one will throw a spear like Jan Zelezny again!
So I for some reason felt compelled to fact check this, and by God, you weren't lying. Congratulations (14 years late)man and clearly you put in a lot of work.
I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this video about an amazing, world best, athlete. I had no prior knowledge of him or his accomplishments. Now, I look forward to sharing this video with family and friends. The narrator is excellent, and I look forward to seeing more of his work!
I like how, in so many of the shots we see, there are people standing at the far end of the range completely oblivious to the fact that a very long sharp object is hurtling straight toward them at 100 miles per hour.
I recall one mishap, but it was due to the throw landing too much to the side, off sector. Hit a long jumper on the side of his torso. I wonder if they changed the design of the stadium after that. Would reckon so, or at minimum the scheduling to not have an event take place at the same time on the side. Video, pretty scary: ruclips.net/video/JhT30Ov41_s/видео.html
@@MC_ToyDawg Actually happened quite a few times, i remember one thrower accidentally threw to the left side out of bounds and hit someone on the back. One hit a field personnel on the jaw. And another one on a judges left arm.
"This whole javelin thing may in fact present real safety concerns" Wow, who would've thought that a competition involving tossing a throwing spear might be dangerous.
The surprise wasn't that a pointy thing would be dangerous, that's always been known. The surprise was that a throw would be 5 meters beyond the existing world record at the time.
I remember a clip with an official catching a javelin with his torso...if I remember correctly he threw the marker down wher it should have fallen...with the javelin sticking out of him.
I was lucky enough to witness the 92.97 throw of the olympic Gold medal winner Arshad Nadeem in the Stade de France so I thought I'd rewatch this fantastic TRP video. Great retrospective on the true greatest ever :-)
That he could complete at that level into his 40s in a sport that puts that much stress on your back makes him the top candidate for greatest genetics ever.
@@garrysekelli6776 Stooopid comment! NOBODY makes this man look common! Brady is THE GOAT quarterback without doubt. However, ask him to throw a javelin. Brady will agree Zelezny is the GOAT Javelin thrower. Show respect or lose respect.
reminds me of Maldini, Ac Milans most loyal player. He was in italian squad for long too, he was able to play both left and right side, defense and midfield, since Milan had two great left wingers, he usually was on the right, but sometimes they swapped sides too. with that strategy, the two wingers went up, 4 midfielders on center in diamond shape, no wingers, the righ midfielder Gatusso went back and Pirlo went up a bit instead, controlling pace on center. So basically from a 4-4-2 switched into a 2-1-5-2. The attack phase was high tempo switch on sides and long crosses, so the wings needed huge stamina and speed for that, and then go back to defense. Maldini at 40 was still outplaying real madids players, lasting the whole game while they had to swap out one of the defenders because couldn't keep up.
Met him a few times during training camps for javlein coaches, such a humble, kind and friendly man. Being a finn we have had many great throwers but I got no problem admitting that he is the G.O.A.T.
@@db3032 “stop doing this unrelated thing, and the infinitesimal chances of meeting a specific person will increase by an arbitrary amount, decided by my flawless logic.”
He was and still is an athlete to be beaten, he’s was so good that the IAA changed the ruling for javelins twice. I actually watch him throw a javelin out of an arena once..a true athlete the Greeks would bow too.
@@yellowpancake7968 Yes but the Greeks would wonder why try to throw as far as possible as they threw at targets as it was a weapon of war then and hitting your opponent way important.
@@RedRocket4000 though originally thrown at targets, when the Olympics started they did throw as far as possible, it was one of the Olympic’s motto, "Faster, Higher, Stronger",
Look at any javelin thrower, Jan was smaller then any of them. Did it stop him hell no, he demolished everyone he went up against. He is 1 of my heroes.
@@Quantris Everybody's a critic. If you don't like the presentation style, that's perfectly fine, but it's unfair to say that it's a waste of time to watch the video when you have enough time to complain about it.
@@Gilsworth I think it's amusing how so many people feel the need to defend other people from criticism just cause...no reason really. His criticism is valid. It's not a personal attack. IF I made videos I'd want to see comments telling me what didn't work to improve my content. The very basics of informative writing is minimalism. Of course, there can be some flair in documentary style content like this, but minimalistic and well structured content is the priority. More importantly, however, he brings this criticism on himself for his bait. He baits in the title and tries to retain viewership by constant teasing the 'next big reveal'. That's not style. We don't benefit from that. Only he does. So people complaining about that is only fair. Actions have consequences.
never thought a video about a Javelin Thrower would have any kind of impact on me, since i dont really care about this sport, but what i saw here, was just incredible...23 years of dominance never ever achieved in any sports...this is so freakin impressive...
Jan was and is my hero since I was in the elementary school. I have seen TV live that he broke the WR again and again in the same competition. He can keep constant performance to keep each throw over 90m. He even can keep the same performance after IAA change the Javelin. After 30yrs still unbeatable record. Unfortunately it‘s not popular in where I am from. So far I have only seen few athletes from Asia.
His technique really is flawless. He builds up speed first, then his legs move wider storing more potential energy. Then right at the release, all the energy he built up is transferred to his arm and you can actually see his entire lower body go completely still for a split second before the recoil of the throw causes him to jump once more to the line. He realizes this which is why he throws so short of the line, hes a true master of the sport!
@@JohnDoe-qg1pj if you were paying attention to the video then you would know he's referring to the governing body, or did you expect someone to say THE ILLUMINATI?. The question is rhetorical.
As a Brit in his fifties now I very well remember Jan Zelezny, at the time Britains own Steve Backley was constantly battling with Jan and usually coming off worst, but I remember both men throwing over ninety meters and both holding the world record...great video, Zelezny was an outstanding athlete.
As a young boy my father took me to an athetics meet at Sydney Athletic Field and I was totally amazed as we sat behind the throwers and saw Uwe Hown blast the Javelin out there. Television really takes away from how incredible these throws are. It seems like the are disappearing into orbit. Wish I had have seen Zelezny compete live.
Zelesny has to be the greatest of all time due to the fact he threw with every different instruments in the sports history. They kept changing the javelin on him, and he still smashed world records and what they thought was humanly possible. This guy is a legitimate goat. I don't think many other athletes have had to deal with the amount of nonsense this guy did. They literally erased his world records by changing the game, and he kept setting new ones with the new instrument.
I wonder why didn't they hold a just for show, no record validation, event at his prime time with no people nor athletes at the landing zone, where he could throw with that instrument after which they first changed construction. To be measured. I mean, that would be just unbelievable.
really doesn't make any sense to follow the "logic" operating on those that keep hindering this discipline to be going on opposite direction to FUNCTION in goals to achieve, more distance throws. Like would they make shorter the poles for vault jumpers so they can keep off reach to many meters less, or add dust or sand on tracks so the running races "don't go so fast"????? etc It just does not make any sense at all What would be next, make them throw with straws weighting nothing in the air? WHO are these people making such changes? What parameters of "logic" or off Logic do they operate under? Fair is fair, but they seem to have placed a butt cheek on the balance to tilt that Sport, hindering it.
Being Slovak and never hearing about him just shows how much our talents are under appreciated locally at least he was recognised outside much love for such good video :)
Well, if you are under 25 years old you kind of missed the majority of his carrier :) And it mostly depended on what your parents liked to watch. Byla sranda sledovat jak se mu v průběhu let vystřídali soupeři, které stejně skoro vždy zvládl přehodit :)
Noone cares about the javelin. I threw it in college - it was fun to compete - however one of the most boring disciplines to watch. Same with discus and shot put.
The angle was perfect the technique was unreplicable by anyone... the talent was unprecedented... the dedication was unrivaled. And he will stay... forever... undefeated.
Am I the only one that sees that the proper answer to how to avoid people getting hit with a javelin is to not stand in the direction that they are being thrown
The issue is just that they only have so much space. No matter what you do there's always going to be people down range unless there's just a gap in the stadium and nobody builds a stadium like that for major events. They also can't just rely on a net like football does because they need to be able to measure the distance to where it lands. So they're stuck having to have a field contained by bystanders on all sides that just becomes unmanageable if they need like 150m of space.
I'm Czech and was a student of a sports faculty at the time of Železný's glorious times. We obviously analysed his throwing technique and we were exhilerated by his success as well as inspired. However you might be surprised that while we were training the javelin for upcoming decathlon event we were advised NOT to use Železný's technique as it was too risky for your spine and vertebrae as it was so specific contortion. Instead we practised a more classic way. And I can confirm that without properly mastered technique you may be a great thrower of anything but not of a javelin. Great video and thanks to the author, too!
Ahhh this bit of knowledge answers a hole in the video that made me ask, "what was so _special_ about his method" I really wanted to know why his stance, his run, his arm action, looked so ungainly on film, and so like he would break his ankles, and yet he threw year after year for many decades better than so many. It made me think that knowing how he got to his first national throw would be an interesting back story.
That man was a phenom...and he was little bit small in comparison to the other Athletes. It's more than brute strength in Javelin. Jan is the G.O.A.T forever and ever
He never made the mistake of going over the line again, even when falling to the ground. He made sure to stay far from the line. He was truly dedicated to his sport and an amazing athlete.
That means his throw distance is even further... in other sports with this kind of thing, the point to 'do thing' is at the line, not 'land on your face before this line'.
it should be like in distance jump. Counting Valid throw to be, when done from within the line with the front foot, but after that (when javelin have left the body) the only thing that should be counting is, WHERE THE JAVELIN FALLS _and not your body. It should be understood by the "experts" in the Sport and Olympic authorities upgrading the event, that by inertia you can't stop in mid air and withhold the whole body from falling, unless.... what they intend with that is to straitjacket the throws to some aesthetic standard, as if not athletes but like gymnasts or ballerinas, that must end to standing position and with feet together if for better score, here they even disqualify the javelin throw or penalize the athlete out. WTF. Valuing above Aesthetics at the price of Trimming off FUNCTION doesn't seem rational.
@@pendragonU imo, the javelin throw should be measured from where the hand came off, but that is using modern tech though. I wonder how far he would have been throwing with the original weight. I know from my time as a javthrow in high school, it was heavy then in 1980-83
It would be a fun retirement party, go out to the biggest, flattest field they can find, mark some distances, and let him just heave one of the old javelins as hard as he could, to see how he compares. Though, not knowing how different they are, I'd be afraid of him hurting himself from the different weight/balance, etc.
I remember seeing him always winning during the summer games as a kid. Made me not liking him as a participant as there were basically no competition. Thanks for showing how great he really was! 👏 Salutes to him
it's funny how western fkers gets so jealous of Indian javelin thrower winning gold that now they make videos showing how others are great. I wonder why they never made this video before Neeraj Chopra won gold in olympics for India.
@@aaronfrench8322 its no only Hamilton, Mercedes car is better than any other in F1, Verstappen and Russell would be as good as Hamilton if they had the same car and team. Russell almost won a race last year with a Mercedes, hopefully next year races will be more interesting
I knew about the Javelin Throw and thought it was a geeks sport. Then I watched this man!!! I guess my Basketball, Football , Baseball and Soccer and a-few other sports interests need a Geeks tune up! Wow, I really Loved Bruce Jenner my Decathlon hero when I was 16 during the 1976 Olympics! This man really needs to be remembered! Jan Zelezny…. Mr. GOAT
I have always admire Jan's extremely powerful throws. The fact that he wasn't the beefy guy goes to show how much technique he was using. Greets from Swe😎🇸🇪
UK here and a Steve Backley fan. Jan was just beyond legendary. I used to hope that Jan was on a bad day so Steve could take a major win, alas Jan always brought his A game to the big tournaments. GOAT
One thing the narrator said that made the most impression on me , referring to Jan Jelezny’s athletic qualities as a javelin thrower was , “world class focus” , and that is the strong impression that I received , every time I watched him throw his javelin in the documentary, which was every several seconds throughout the length of that interesting and well narrated documentary
When I thrrew javelin in high school in the '70s, you had to throw properly to make the tip stick, or at least break the surface, for the throw to be legal. Because of contraversies over "flat landings" and the distances being achieved, the javelin was redisigned in the '80s with a modified centre of gravity and surface area to promote sticking on landing, so now you can concentrate more on the strength of the throw rather than the correct style to get the tip to land first. The redisgn was also to shorten distances because of the tip pointing down after the javelin reached the top of the arc, rather than "floating" on the descent.
Jan Zelezeny The man is a legend in my eyes he was the best ever javelin thrower in the sports history even those records which were taken aay from him.The sport committee tried to change the style of javelin for safety reasons!yet Jan Zelezeny kept on throwing and beating his own records these records will never be beaten.23 years he gave the sport before he retired....
Never heard of him before, never seen him before - but when I saw this video, it was like an adrenaline rush to be competitive to myself and overcome my greatest works. For me, he stands as an inspiration for life amongst other G.O.A.Ts I follow. #Salute
@@paulweir5031 not actually into this sport or sports except for wrestling, ufc. Been into Hip Hop for as long as I can remember buddy. However better I know about him now and I think everyone who needs a mentor or motivation ought to see him. Anyways, mine is Cave number 289, what is yours? I'd visit you
Fun fact: The current record of the Taiwanese grenade throwing record is 80m, by a javelin thrower, beating the previous record of 71m made by an MLB pitcher.
Javelin throwing requires fast arm movement and powerful thrust from legs to provide good momentum. To achieve maximum flight the javelin needs to fly at an angle of 40-50 degrees, so power still applies, it’s just how steep you throw it.
That's an understatement. Both technique and explosive power must be on equal footing. One could not do without the other - and that applies to just about any form of any sport where these two elements must be present. You don't have to be overly muscular to have tremendous strength. In fact, if you look at his body and bodies, let's say, sprinters or basketball players, their overall combined strength comes from their muscular structure where muscles and ligaments are long and dense. Such muscle structure provides expansive rubber spring like qualities where the compression and sudden release of that compressed energy is much higher than with heavier and more bulky athletes where such features actually do not provide the energy needed for the maneuver that's being executed. Jan Zelezny was, beside his almost perfect technique, also very strong and he was an expert in anatomy and studying his own structural advantages and shortfalls. Anyone who aspires to be the best athlete, must also know all the secrets of his trade better than his Coaches. Those who rely too much on their Coaches usually do not achieve longstanding greatness because they e never been able to scrutinize and analyze themselves harder than their trainers. Zelezny knows all the nuances of his trade far better than anyone else. That's why he is also a very successful a Coach because he can see inside his athletes heads and bodies.
Or he could have had it deemed as another foul. That's why he stopped well short of the line. That's why the best in all sports where lines are involved, stop well before the line. It's not about getting to the line, but to utilize the body to the max.
I don't think the extra meter or less of running distance would have that much of an impact. It's 99% form and strength and technique. Maybe it would have put him to 99 if that.
One wonders what kind of range he could have gotten with the older style Javelin and during the Apex of his career. Maybe he could have literally thrown it off the field.
In my javelin prime, I analysed his videos for hours on end, picking up on very subtle changes with my coach. I eventually got to 73.95m at age 20 before completely wrecking my elbow. I miss throwing javelin everyday but love coaching the upcoming kids.
You nay have the perfect technique but if your shoulder genetics is not gifted, it is just a question of time before you blow it if you compete in the highest level of the sport
A lot of body parts should have had enough of javelin throwing after 23 years at JS's level. Pretty sure my elbow would have retired first, and a lot sooner than that..
His throwing technique is utterly sublime. Height, angle, velocity, distance, it's all there. He was a one off as far as the javelin goes. His records will stand for a long, long time.
I'm not saying that you're definitely Not who you say that you are, but it's very suspect that you joined RUclips with this name and comment at the same time.
18:05 At the start of the 2000 javelin final Jan’s Olympic record was 89.66m. In the final Steve Backley of GB threw 89.85m in round 2 going into the lead and breaking the Olympic record…Steve held the OR until Jan’s next throw in round 3 when he threw the 90.17m. I remember watching this as it happened. Whatever Steve did in comp Jan stepped it up to take Gold.
Jan Zelzny was simply second to none. He threw over 90 meters 53 times in his career, in 34 separate competitions. 3 Olympic golds, one silver, and 5 Olympic finals in total. 3 World championship golds. Had the longest throw of the year 7 different years. He won 134 out of 200 finals during his 20-year senior career (13 out of 14 finals in 1996, 15 out of 17 in 1994, 14 out of 15 in 1993, 10 out of 11 in 1991) He threw 92.80 when he was 35, and 85.92 when he was 40. His 92.80 throw was in 2001, and no one threw longer than that in 16 years. In one competition Zelezny threw over 90 meters in 5 of his 6 throws. And in Sheffield 1993 he threw over 95 meters two times in the same competition. In the 1995 World Championships, he QUALIFIED with a throw of 90.12m, and in the 2001 World Championships, he qualified with a 90.76m throw (that is longer than the season best of most years, including 2019) This is Michael Jordan/Wayne Gretzky/Michael Phelps -levels of dominance. And yeah, he's also thrown a softball 128.63 meters (422 feet) Just insane.
@Peter Evans You realize all the throwers have the same conditions on the stadium right? Or are you suggesting he had wind at his command and it always stopped when someone else went to throw?
@Peter Evans Oh i forgot about the wind gusts! How could i! He always got the positive ones and everyone else the negative ones! That must be it! Youre just a troll...
I’m convinced governing bodies hate GOATS… I mean look at Simone Biles. She’s achieved moves no female gymnast in history has even dreamed of. Instead of rewarding her for brand new skills, they said it was dangerous and scored her normally. These standout athletes make it harder for everybody else to feel successful, so they belittle their success and continually move goalposts when they breakout again.
We've seen Formula One and Rally neutered in the name of safety as well. I wonder how frustrating it is for competitors to be held back, knowing they can do better than what they're allowed to do.
I’m sold. If I win the lottery, I’m definitely having a pro javelin thrower on my security staff roster. Sure a sniper could get it done, but the thought of being impaled by a javelin is brutal AF.
Well, no. The video's really misleading. Look up Steve Backley. He and Zelezny were neck and neck for a long time, they broke each other's world records multiple times. Zelezny's the greatest, but not by the gulf this video would have you believe.
Nope. In his early years he was a long way ahead and his WR was a long way ahead, but his normal throws weren't that far ahead of his top competitors for most of his career. He would regularly win events by 20 or 30 cms.
"I am going to bed early tonight" I told myself this evening. It is now in the middle of the night and I am totally immersed in a documentary about javelin throwing...
Watching him throw actually gives me goosebumps. The way he moves is so full of skill and power. You can see the force moving from his legs, through his hips, up his lats, and through his arm. It's truly amazing to watch.
And on top of all that, he also did a great job as a coach. Among others, he trained Barbora Špotáková, who holds women's javelin world record since 2008.
Yeah. I wanted to make sure it's a short comment, brevity is usually not my strong discipline. Moreover it is hard to find good quality information and there were other coaches involved, usually, so I didn't want to exaggerate his coaching role. It was a very happy moment for me to see these two earning silver and bronze on Tokyo 2020. But I chose Barbora as the only example just because she ended up almost as much of a phenomenon in women's javelin as Jan Železný is in men's.
I remember Jan Zalezny as a kid very well, he was the only reason I watched track and field beyond the 100 metres. Watching him for me wasn't about knowing he would win gold, it was about how big the gap would be between him and second place, he really was that dominant. 🐐
They keep changing the rules, he just stays at the top no matter what. Makes you think how in other sports athletes complain about different eras. No excuses.
The video says the rule changes were aimed at safety rather than changing the pecking order, so it's not surprising they didn't keep him from the top. What they did do was prevent him exceeding the 100m-mark, as Uwe Hohn had done. Zelezny would probably have gone well beyond it with a Hohn-type javelin.
@@molybdaenmornell123hopp5 I think easily 110m, maybe even 120-125m. I didn't find out if the old type javelin was lighter but I thought I heard on the video that it was but I might have misheard 🤷♂️ Does anyone know if it used to be also lighter?
@@Juide80 from what I found in my research is that the center of gravity of the spear itself was moved 4 cm forward, to prevent it from falling flat more often and of course, making it go shorter. It doesn’t seem like the weight itself was changed at all
Your Country has historically produced great Artists, Musicians, composers, scientists and of course, Olympians. I have never visited, but I will. U r right to feel that cultural pride. It's well worth celebrating for the younger achievers today. Greetings from Australia.
@@harrisons62 Yeah, I'm all in calling competitive computer games sports, but using the word athletic doesn't really fit. Maybe it will when some physically demanding VR game becomes a esport, but until then 'athleticism' is reserved.
i'm so used to bad endings that every time you said, "however....", I said, "Sigh. WHAT?!" because i wanted this guy to win everything so much, and I had only known of him for a few minutes after pressing 'play' on this video. That is the sign of an excellent story teller. Well done.
I love that RUclips is a place where I can learn about an amazing athlete that I otherwise would most likely never have heard of. Awesome video, and I’m so glad it showed up in my recommended
"Zelezny" means "of iron." A true Iron Man. I was also born in Czechoslovakia and I can assure you that we have many more people like him in all different fields of endeavour, even in the USA. Their Czech heritage is usually not known or publicised.
Genuinely disrespectful to Zelezny to say this lol. You make it seem like his success is due to him being Czech. It's because he's one of the best athletes of all time.
@@bryant8307 It’s because Czechia is a shit country nowadays, so people like this guy always show up saying how good everything is just because a few people who were born there are good at sports. I. e. trying to make the entire country look perfect just because of sports and other non-essential things, while ignoring what’s really happening.
It always feels special watching something like this. Personal documentaries have to be one of the greatest honors for great people. One of the good things to come from the internet.
Thank you for a beautiful and important video! Exceptionally well done! I'm a 68 year old Vietnam era Vet who in high school was a discus and javelin thrower. I have extremely long arms at 38" and had a very similar style in throwing the javelin. Unfortunately the very same year I went to compete nationally, my school outlawed the javelin. In upstate New York a fatality occurred due to a misthrow from a different school and my mine did not want the liability. I went on to placing 2nd in the State championships in discus, but my first love was the javelin. I would practice the javelin 4 days a week, even though I could no longer compete with it. What always interested me in both the discus and the javelin were their connections to ancient Greece and Rome. Classical mythology is still a favorite hobby. Thank you again for an illuminating look at the world's greatest athlete! With respect, ~Patrick
@pad-zilla1246. I am a javelin thrower from upstate NY and they still don’t really have javelin at meets, with few exceptions. This year I competed at Nationals and ranked first in the state. However, it would’ve been nice if we actually had it at all our meets. Instead of training javelin regularly at practice, my coach had me train for pentathlon.
I wish they had the technology portrayed in Rocky IV for the Russian or just modern high speed cameras to better understand his form and the forces he delivered. How would his throwing a baseball from the outfield to home plate compare to some of the best outfielders?
Bruh think about this, you've been drafted and ur an rpg guy (don't actually know the correct name for that) and you launch a rocket at some dude and he just grabs I mid air and launches it back at u with his hand. I'd commit XD
Yea the one throw where it looked like it broke the sound barrier as soon as he released it?, honestly yea it could be chalk it could've been sweat or maybe I'm right and as soon as he released the javelin is pierced the sound barrier🤷♂️👀
13:40 -- the moment the Devs realized they needed to put the man in chain mail with a helmet before he threw at olympics....just to make it fair. That throw was like Larry Bird coming into the 1987 three point contest and telling the other guys "who's coming in second?"
Think of taking those guys to an open long field. Security people and no fans just cameras. Let us see how far a man can throw the original javelin. Don’t make a floppy limp one so that it won’t go as far. Don’t change the rules. Let the athletes be as good as they can be
This is why he is the greatest of all time. No other athlete had to deal with the amount of nonsense this guy went through. Every couple of years it seems they change the instrument and the rules of the game, and yet he still smashes world records even as they erase his old ones. I don't think any other athletes had that many world records invalidated, and then got them back.
I have a goose bumps every time when I hear his name..I used to watch with my father every summer Olympic events from '88 to my father's death and every time he admire his performance on just how we prepared to watch him throwing...he used to say "Watch this guy kid, you witness the greatness of its own".
@@shiva9575 Of course. He is currently training our other two Olympians (Tokyo 2021: Jakub Vadlejch (Silver) and Vítězslav Veselý (bronze)). And our best javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková (WR 72.28) was also his charge.
Carl Lewis had just set a world record, in the 100 meters, when a reporter asked him, Carl how does it feel to be the fastest man in the world... Carl replied, I'm sure I wouldn't know, but it sure feels good to be the fastest man here today
Man watching the way he turns his whole bodies momentum into a singular javelin propelling force is CRAZY - the dude just stops and every bit of energy is transferred into his arm.
My father was a huge track and field fan in 80's and 90's. When I was born in 1993, my parents were thinking of a great name. My father suggested a name Jan and explained my mother who Zelezny was. Case closed. This guy is my favourite track and field athlete of all time. I wish to meet him in my life, just to thank him for a cool name and a great backstory he created with being a rather subtle built but an outrageous power and skillset for a javelin thrower.
@@jiricoufal3835 Actually I did not. In Estonia, I am sometimes asked if my full name is Jaanus or sth Estonian, as Jan seems too short name for our people. I think that my name is the shortest name to write in Russian, as two letters for "Ja" and "n" - Ян
Never heard of this guy, despite the fact that I was alive and actually watching track and field events for his entire career. Thank you for sharing. Very cool!
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Met him at our local track when I was a kid, he was promoting athletics throwing events for schools. He did a few throws of at least 80m, I got his autograph on my t-shirt. Amazing
Cool👍
Athletes throwing events typically would mean taking a dive to win big gambling
@@BOB67666 why the long face
@@BOB67666 just because it didnt happen to you dosnt mean it didnt happen. Grow up and learn to keep scrolling
Lucky bastard
19:10 You didnt mention it but even though he retired at the age of 40 he finished 3rd at his last WCH in Göteborg and I will add just one comparison - Zelezny threw over 90m 52 times, everyone else in the history combined together threw over 90m 32 times. That's just pure greatness !
Technically, Gothenburg 2006 was the European championships, not the world championships.
Not taking away from the amazing feat of doing that at the age of 40, though.
If those stats are real I’m absolutely gob smacked.
So about 2/3 of the 90m+ throws ever achieved belong to this one guy?
That's /really/ freaking hard to argue with.
this year Vetter has overtaken Zelezny in 93/94m+ throws.
@@patheddles4004 Zelezny has 34 90m+ throws, which is nearly 1/3 of the total 90m+ throws. In terms of events, with a 90m+ throw, it is 28 to 22 for Zelezny.
Zelezny retired in 2006 and started coaching. I heard in 2008 during a winter training camp he got frustrated at the athletes he was coaching and threw a javelin over 85 meters as an example how it is done. What a legend.
Is that a true story?
@@Meritokratiabest still impressive
@@CanadianBoardCrew Absolutely!
And then he raised Olympic and World championships and Diamond league winners as coach.
🤣🤣🤣
I was a Decathlete training in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2000-2001 and I remember we couldn’t do our warm up laps around the 400m track when Železny was throwing because apparently he actually overthrew the sector and stuck a Javelin in the surface of the track, well over 100m. It was unreal to watch him practice.
lmao imagining practicing your throw and sniping some guy on the sprint track 100 meters away.
*points to someone on the opposite side of the field* "See that guy? Watch out lol, he's gonna snipe you"
@@zerotwoisreal Tero Pitkämäki threw his javelin through a French(?) athlete who was prepping for his long jump. I think the javelin went through his liver, but he made it out alive. This happened in an official competition.
@@janbo8331 ya know what I would do? I would aim.
Wow! that is a fantastic personal detail. Thanks for sharing it.
It’s true I was the javelin
When they change the rules on an individual not once but twice because he is so much better than anyone else, and he still dominates that's greatness.
Technoblade be like
They did that in the K1 twice for Bob Sapp against Ernesto Hoost. Hoost is the 4 time world gp champ. Sapp has lost his last 20 fights lol
But ultimately if you put the sport itself in perspective (as in how many people actually try to compete professionally) say vrs running or swimming where far more people participate in it. I mean it not easy to practice the sport safety or properly like having a marked field in a stadium you can practice in. It’s a very impressive record and story but for me as less people are involved in the sport the odds are far higher that you could rise above the competition (as there is less of it) than say running/sprinting. So sprinting for me is still No.1 and the most famous all time greats are still those in sprinting or long distance running.
Yeah n a slap on the face of biased regulations, i mean this was God gifted huh, ....the man was made to achieve greatness in this particular discipline!
@@sam-kid still, the person to actually do with the javelin, what it was made for, is Pitkamekki. He pierced it into a guys liver if i remember correctly
never gave a hoot about javelin throwing until now, but got chills right at the end. You, dear friend, are an excellent story teller!
Me too
Totally, I rarely care about any sport but this vidio was watched all the way through, super awesome Jan and a great vidio a out him!
You should commend yourself for being so logical too.
Kudos.
too bad hes a doorknob
Yeh i felt this too
He use his whip technique but never dislocated his shoulder means that his form is just literally perfect because if your form is slightly of, your shoulder would certainly popped out with that much force.
Or other kinds of injury besides the back pain
Yup. Knee and hip issues are common as well from planting force.
After making his commitment to never fault out again I could see he would plant that left foot at the end of the throw like a demon. Man, the force on that leg all the way up the body! Knock out a regular bloke's fillings.
I think you're skipping the fact that his ulner collateral ligament survived his training let alone his actual competition throws!!! I think it's measured that a 5 oz baseball pitched at 95 mph is something like 800 lb of force put onto that tiny ligament hence us knowing the injury repair as "The Tommy John Surgery" after the first pitcher to successfully receive the surgery and make a come back.
@@jonlamontagne i play fortnite
As a Czech person I highly appreciate how well you learned to pronounce his name. ❤️
Me at the beginning: "Javelin, I've heard of it..."
Me at the end: "Zelezny is the all time greatest and I'll fight any fool who says otherwise "
😂😂😂
"You Don't Know Anything About Javelin" Would Be The Best Argument
Janis Lusis was better - was winning more consistently just failed 1cm in olympics
Lol 😆
@@marcismucenieks5687 Whoo is it?
How he never hyperextended a knee or threw out his shoulder is just incredible.
Would be interesting to know what kind of training program he had in the gym. I assume lot's of shoulders.
If I throw something at peak power I definitely hurt my shoulder
He probably did both many times, and worked through it with PT and willpower. Lots of athletes give themselves horrible long term damage by "playing through the pain". If it was worth it to him, then good, I say. He seemed to love the sport.
@@anms_brk and he was disgustingly good at it too. goddamn
The human body is pretty well designed to throw
Zelezny in Czech language means “made of iron”. Fits perfectly.
or "Ironborn" like Greyjoys from Iron Islands...
Means the same thing in Russian, curiously enough. Slavic language similarities, I guess.
Zhelezo (noun) - iron.
Zhelezni (adjective) - made of iron (masculine). Zheleznaya (feminine). Zheleznoye (neutral).
This dude was unbelievable, regardless.
I hate how they "disqualified" his early records because the "governing body" hadn't "approved" the implement being thrown. What a pile of bull💩.
Sanctioned events, sanctioned rules, sanctioned everything. Yet as soon as the guy shatters the world record, they gasp and unexpectedly realize they handed him an "unsanctioned" and "unverified" jav.
These judging tůrds should be laid out on the ground at 90-meter mark next time. Perhaps they'll sanction everything pertaining to javelin throw more thoroughly, including the javelin 😹
Looks like he was made of Gold to me.
Thcekoslovak method:Love the Earth,Earth give you extention😌
This comment makes him even more badass then i realised lmao
I never thought I would watch a 20 minute video on a single javelin throwing champion lol was pretty interesting
I did the same. First time I got so hooked up.
Don't get hooked friend, you might get a bad habit.
Never thought I'd watch the whole thing, but I did with ease.
I can never get over the fact that that standing world record throw looked like it was easy compared to many other of his throws. Like he really didn't put that much into it, the technique was so pure.
Also looked like he was quite far behind the line in case he stumbled.
@@scopie49 and thats where you wonder what he could have gotten, if he didnt have to worry about the line
This is what Bruce Lee talked about an practiced.
@@scopie49 I was thinking the same thing, Im not an expert at all on the sport but, maybe putting extra force in causes you to need extra room to land on your hands? That's 1 thing I noticed about some of these. But it's stil possible he could have got 100. Imagine if he was in Colorado with the thin air, he could maybe have even broken the old pre 1984 record that is now not counted!
@@MoneyHoneyBunny He stays so far behind the line because he's worried about fouling. Despite the perfect form he sometimes does get tripped up and stumbles after the throw. So he's safely behind the line just in case but also sacrifices his total distance. It adds a level of technical skill to be required to throw behind the line but his actual throw was much further than recorded. That's what I find impressive. Breaks a record that could have been like 1m further.
Audience: "Zelezny's competing? Yeah I'll take a seat behind the competitors please."
"Half time! Changing sides!"
When it's safer to take a seat closer to the javelin thrower
@@thomasholmes4669 lol
Now let have someone throw 100m
😂
I spent my entire college career emulating this man’s technique and I’m so happy to see a thorough accounting of his Herculean career. I ended up winning an ACC championship with a throw of 73.04m back in 2003 while attending Georgia Tech. Beaux Greer was reigning US champ and no one will throw a spear like Jan Zelezny again!
Boo wreck tech dawg go Dawgs 💯
I've made 10 meters from memory
Yeah? Well....... also, I'm a ninja.
So I for some reason felt compelled to fact check this, and by God, you weren't lying. Congratulations (14 years late)man and clearly you put in a lot of work.
@@grantking4032 lmfao are you for real? If yes, that's ridiculously amazing.
I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this video about an amazing, world best, athlete. I had no prior knowledge of him or his accomplishments. Now, I look forward to sharing this video with family and friends. The narrator is excellent, and I look forward to seeing more of his work!
I like how, in so many of the shots we see, there are people standing at the far end of the range completely oblivious to the fact that a very long sharp object is hurtling straight toward them at 100 miles per hour.
And imagine that they didn't change the javelin's specs ,he would have easily hit them most of the time.
@@hansdavis7335 Darwin says let them die.
I recall one mishap, but it was due to the throw landing too much to the side, off sector. Hit a long jumper on the side of his torso. I wonder if they changed the design of the stadium after that. Would reckon so, or at minimum the scheduling to not have an event take place at the same time on the side. Video, pretty scary: ruclips.net/video/JhT30Ov41_s/видео.html
Somone has to of gotten impelled at an event in history.
@@MC_ToyDawg Actually happened quite a few times, i remember one thrower accidentally threw to the left side out of bounds and hit someone on the back. One hit a field personnel on the jaw. And another one on a judges left arm.
"This whole javelin thing may in fact present real safety concerns"
Wow, who would've thought that a competition involving tossing a throwing spear might be dangerous.
The surprise wasn't that a pointy thing would be dangerous, that's always been known. The surprise was that a throw would be 5 meters beyond the existing world record at the time.
@@bpj1805 Which shouldn't have been surprising, given what we know of Human adaptability and improvement.
I wonder what incidents occurred that they had to make those javelin changes.
I remember a clip with an official catching a javelin with his torso...if I remember correctly he threw the marker down wher it should have fallen...with the javelin sticking out of him.
What made him so good is he was probably aiming at the people at the end of the track.
Managed to make a tonne of people care about this man's achievements. That's good video work, man!
There is 795 likes and I am the first comment
I am second
Remember shouting at the telly with my granddad that was pure magic. Thanks for the work. Much appreciated. Couldn't be prouder.
What’s a “tonme”?
Y6 as
I was lucky enough to witness the 92.97 throw of the olympic Gold medal winner Arshad Nadeem in the Stade de France so I thought I'd rewatch this fantastic TRP video.
Great retrospective on the true greatest ever :-)
Let me point out the mythical significance of being able to throw over 90m ONCE in your career.. Zelezny did it every year for a decade.
NOBODY CARES!
@@AKFF320 about you?
@@AKFF320 Man you are jealous, a very common trait for American so i guess you are American right?
@@Jop3lius Irrelevant point, you're already desperate.
@@matthewmea3566 Irrelevant tears, have a napkin.
That he could complete at that level into his 40s in a sport that puts that much stress on your back makes him the top candidate for greatest genetics ever.
Tom Brady makes this guy look like an amateur.
@@garrysekelli6776 Throwing a football is a lot less stress on your back than throwing a javelin though lmao
@@garrysekelli6776 Stooopid comment! NOBODY makes this man look common! Brady is THE GOAT quarterback without doubt. However, ask him to throw a javelin. Brady will agree Zelezny is the GOAT Javelin thrower. Show respect or lose respect.
reminds me of Maldini, Ac Milans most loyal player. He was in italian squad for long too, he was able to play both left and right side, defense and midfield, since Milan had two great left wingers, he usually was on the right, but sometimes they swapped sides too. with that strategy, the two wingers went up, 4 midfielders on center in diamond shape, no wingers, the righ midfielder Gatusso went back and Pirlo went up a bit instead, controlling pace on center. So basically from a 4-4-2 switched into a 2-1-5-2. The attack phase was high tempo switch on sides and long crosses, so the wings needed huge stamina and speed for that, and then go back to defense. Maldini at 40 was still outplaying real madids players, lasting the whole game while they had to swap out one of the defenders because couldn't keep up.
@@garrysekelli6776, come back when they make 5+ iterations minimum of the football to make it so you can't throw it as far.
Met him a few times during training camps for javlein coaches, such a humble, kind and friendly man. Being a finn we have had many great throwers but I got no problem admitting that he is the G.O.A.T.
yea sure buddy
@@nazgul2619 Maybe stop being a cynical weeb and you might meet somebody famous?
@@db3032 “stop doing this unrelated thing, and the infinitesimal chances of meeting a specific person will increase by an arbitrary amount, decided by my flawless logic.”
@@akyut1749 "Stop being a weeb that posts destiny yeehaw videos"
I met him too and broke his record but it was unofficial. Such is life
This is an incredible testament to the longevity of determination that this extraordinary man possessed.
As a discus thrower in high school, I can't imagine throwing a javelin so far. I played with the javelin, and it seemed impossible. GOAT is right
Same here. Ryan Crouser is a beast too.
He was and still is an athlete to be beaten, he’s was so good that the IAA changed the ruling for javelins twice. I actually watch him throw a javelin out of an arena once..a true athlete the Greeks would bow too.
>the greeks would bow too
I certainly agree.
I love the Greek line. Awesome imagery
OUT of an arena?!
@@yellowpancake7968 Yes but the Greeks would wonder why try to throw as far as possible as they threw at targets as it was a weapon of war then and hitting your opponent way important.
@@RedRocket4000 though originally thrown at targets, when the Olympics started they did throw as far as possible, it was one of the Olympic’s motto, "Faster, Higher, Stronger",
Look at any javelin thrower, Jan was smaller then any of them. Did it stop him hell no, he demolished everyone he went up against. He is 1 of my heroes.
than*
Lol you are short
Buddy I’m 5’3 but I’m married w kids and just bought a house you’ll be fine
Javelin throwing, like archery, is all about technique over strength. Without the former the latter is unproductive.
@@humptydumpty1463 Lol you have small pp
Pakistan's Arshed Nadeem has just thrown 92.97 in 2024 Paris Olympics, and I'm here to watch this Legend of Javelin throw. like if you are here too.
Same
Same
Same
I'm a Pakistani and I'm here because of the same reason.
Same here
Just when you finally think he’s going to tell you about his best throw, he goes on to start a different story.
This guy is the epitome of "But wait! There's MORE!"
At a certain point one realizes they should just go read the wiki about Jan instead of wasting more time waiting for this video to stop teasing
@@Quantris Everybody's a critic. If you don't like the presentation style, that's perfectly fine, but it's unfair to say that it's a waste of time to watch the video when you have enough time to complain about it.
@@Quantris That's exactly what I did.
@@Gilsworth I think it's amusing how so many people feel the need to defend other people from criticism just cause...no reason really.
His criticism is valid. It's not a personal attack. IF I made videos I'd want to see comments telling me what didn't work to improve my content.
The very basics of informative writing is minimalism. Of course, there can be some flair in documentary style content like this, but minimalistic and well structured content is the priority. More importantly, however, he brings this criticism on himself for his bait. He baits in the title and tries to retain viewership by constant teasing the 'next big reveal'. That's not style. We don't benefit from that. Only he does. So people complaining about that is only fair. Actions have consequences.
Being the best is one thing. Being the best for twenty years is a whole other thing.
Tom Brady level
15:33 "Hey man, did you see that guy almost through the javelin almost 100 meters?"
"Nah, I was looking down tying the laces on my golden shoes."
never thought a video about a Javelin Thrower would have any kind of impact on me, since i dont really care about this sport, but what i saw here, was just incredible...23 years of dominance never ever achieved in any sports...this is so freakin impressive...
I knew he was good, but never really cared about him and had no idea how good he actually was. Thank you for this enlightenment!
Jan was and is my hero since I was in the elementary school. I have seen TV live that he broke the WR again and again in the same competition. He can keep constant performance to keep each throw over 90m. He even can keep the same performance after IAA change the Javelin. After 30yrs still unbeatable record. Unfortunately it‘s not popular in where I am from. So far I have only seen few athletes from Asia.
His technique really is flawless. He builds up speed first, then his legs move wider storing more potential energy. Then right at the release, all the energy he built up is transferred to his arm and you can actually see his entire lower body go completely still for a split second before the recoil of the throw causes him to jump once more to the line.
He realizes this which is why he throws so short of the line, hes a true master of the sport!
Great eye. Surely a coach.
👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
@@JohnDoe-nr7to just a highly enthused fan ☺
They sure loved finding as many reasons as possible to disqualify this man from these insane throws.
Who is they?
,,,,,,, ,,,, ,,,
They fond. I
@@JohnDoe-qg1pj the governing body who didn't recognize his WR throws as WRs
@@JohnDoe-qg1pj if you were paying attention to the video then you would know he's referring to the governing body, or did you expect someone to say THE ILLUMINATI?. The question is rhetorical.
Pulled my shoulder watching this.
Never thought a video about javelin would be SO interesting. What an amazing story
Imagine being blown off a castle wall by a pole traveling at 100 MPH.
Haha that made me laugh
He's a Czech
Probably easily over 100 MPH with an optimized javelin
Meliodas threw it🤣🤣
It's enough to make Achilles blush.
As a Brit in his fifties now I very well remember Jan Zelezny, at the time Britains own Steve Backley was constantly battling with Jan and usually coming off worst, but I remember both men throwing over ninety meters and both holding the world record...great video, Zelezny was an outstanding athlete.
As a young boy my father took me to an athetics meet at Sydney Athletic Field and I was totally amazed as we sat behind the throwers and saw Uwe Hown blast the Javelin out there. Television really takes away from how incredible these throws are. It seems like the are disappearing into orbit. Wish I had have seen Zelezny compete live.
Zelesny has to be the greatest of all time due to the fact he threw with every different instruments in the sports history. They kept changing the javelin on him, and he still smashed world records and what they thought was humanly possible. This guy is a legitimate goat.
I don't think many other athletes have had to deal with the amount of nonsense this guy did. They literally erased his world records by changing the game, and he kept setting new ones with the new instrument.
Absolutely - And deservedly a well earned title : The GOAT 🐐
I wonder why didn't they hold a just for show, no record validation, event at his prime time with no people nor athletes at the landing zone, where he could throw with that instrument after which they first changed construction. To be measured. I mean, that would be just unbelievable.
@@brunesi Probably they would have lost the javelin. 🤣🤣🤣
really doesn't make any sense to follow the "logic" operating on those that keep hindering this discipline to be going on opposite direction to FUNCTION in goals to achieve, more distance throws. Like would they make shorter the poles for vault jumpers so they can keep off reach to many meters less, or add dust or sand on tracks so the running races "don't go so fast"????? etc
It just does not make any sense at all
What would be next, make them throw with straws weighting nothing in the air?
WHO are these people making such changes?
What parameters of "logic" or off Logic do they operate under? Fair is fair, but they seem to have placed a butt cheek on the balance to tilt that Sport, hindering it.
Zelesny had the greatest 'whiplash' delivery ever -- magic
It would have been cool to see him throw the old style javelin at least once, to see what he could do.
Somebody mentioned that he managed to throw the old one 120 m
if It ever happens....I would just stay very far away from the stadium...
@a b based on your question you can say to yourself yes
@@frafrensis6229 I'd just stand behind him, but whatever works
@@kaldogorath I'd be to his left or right, just in case he managed to throw around the Earth and stab me in the back
Being Slovak and never hearing about him just shows how much our talents are under appreciated locally at least he was recognised outside much love for such good video :)
Well, if you are under 25 years old you kind of missed the majority of his carrier :) And it mostly depended on what your parents liked to watch.
Byla sranda sledovat jak se mu v průběhu let vystřídali soupeři, které stejně skoro vždy zvládl přehodit :)
Noone cares about the javelin. I threw it in college - it was fun to compete - however one of the most boring disciplines to watch. Same with discus and shot put.
@@_Tomon career
Quite a few People recognize him all the way over in India. It just depends on what is popular in the country
What!
Never heard of him?
The angle was perfect the technique was unreplicable by anyone... the talent was unprecedented... the dedication was unrivaled. And he will stay... forever... undefeated.
Am I the only one that sees that the proper answer to how to avoid people getting hit with a javelin is to not stand in the direction that they are being thrown
Yes! 😂
For real, imagine if shooting sports were judged like that.
The issue is just that they only have so much space. No matter what you do there's always going to be people down range unless there's just a gap in the stadium and nobody builds a stadium like that for major events. They also can't just rely on a net like football does because they need to be able to measure the distance to where it lands. So they're stuck having to have a field contained by bystanders on all sides that just becomes unmanageable if they need like 150m of space.
Imagine changing the weight of a standard football, basketball, baseball etc. It's so unfair for the atheletes training for so long.
@@akshaydalvi1534 They've changed basketballs and footballs many times. In fact, different leagues use different balls.
I was there when he broke the record in South Africa. We all just fell in love with the man. It was amazing to watch.
Are you South African?
@@Itscertifiedzombie I’m not but he might be
I'm Czech and was a student of a sports faculty at the time of Železný's glorious times. We obviously analysed his throwing technique and we were exhilerated by his success as well as inspired. However you might be surprised that while we were training the javelin for upcoming decathlon event we were advised NOT to use Železný's technique as it was too risky for your spine and vertebrae as it was so specific contortion. Instead we practised a more classic way. And I can confirm that without properly mastered technique you may be a great thrower of anything but not of a javelin. Great video and thanks to the author, too!
Yes, when you look at the real Javelin throwers versus the decathletes you realise how incredibly technical this event is.
Ahhh this bit of knowledge answers a hole in the video that made me ask, "what was so _special_ about his method" I really wanted to know why his stance, his run, his arm action, looked so ungainly on film, and so like he would break his ankles, and yet he threw year after year for many decades better than so many. It made me think that knowing how he got to his first national throw would be an interesting back story.
I could hit the reff with it
Most of the greatest of all time athletes trade health for performance. There is practically no other way.
That man was a phenom...and he was little bit small in comparison to the other Athletes. It's more than brute strength in Javelin. Jan is the G.O.A.T forever and ever
He never made the mistake of going over the line again, even when falling to the ground. He made sure to stay far from the line. He was truly dedicated to his sport and an amazing athlete.
That means his throw distance is even further... in other sports with this kind of thing, the point to 'do thing' is at the line, not 'land on your face before this line'.
Probably could have gone over 99 had he got closer to the line.
it should be like in distance jump. Counting Valid throw to be, when done from within the line with the front foot, but after that (when javelin have left the body) the only thing that should be counting is, WHERE THE JAVELIN FALLS _and not your body.
It should be understood by the "experts" in the Sport and Olympic authorities upgrading the event, that by inertia you can't stop in mid air and withhold the whole body from falling, unless.... what they intend with that is to straitjacket the throws to some aesthetic standard, as if not athletes but like gymnasts or ballerinas, that must end to standing position and with feet together if for better score, here they even disqualify the javelin throw or penalize the athlete out. WTF. Valuing above Aesthetics at the price of Trimming off FUNCTION doesn't seem rational.
@@pendragonU imo, the javelin throw should be measured from where the hand came off, but that is using modern tech though. I wonder how far he would have been throwing with the original weight. I know from my time as a javthrow in high school, it was heavy then in 1980-83
@@Zendukai It's a shame to make the sport safer they had to change the javelin.
Would have loved to see him throw with the same javelin that the guy used to go over 100m
It would be a fun retirement party, go out to the biggest, flattest field they can find, mark some distances, and let him just heave one of the old javelins as hard as he could, to see how he compares. Though, not knowing how different they are, I'd be afraid of him hurting himself from the different weight/balance, etc.
He would possibly have 'killed' the competition 😉
@@swirlershark-dragon8393 What a way to go!
@@grandpied im sure romes enemies wouldnt have agreed.
he will only hurt Achilles' ego
I remember seeing him always winning during the summer games as a kid. Made me not liking him as a participant as there were basically no competition.
Thanks for showing how great he really was! 👏
Salutes to him
This is the same feeling us F1 fans have right now due to Lewis Hamilton.
it's funny how western fkers gets so jealous of Indian javelin thrower winning gold that now they make videos showing how others are great. I wonder why they never made this video before Neeraj Chopra won gold in olympics for India.
@@aaronfrench8322 its no only Hamilton, Mercedes car is better than any other in F1, Verstappen and Russell would be as good as Hamilton if they had the same car and team. Russell almost won a race last year with a Mercedes, hopefully next year races will be more interesting
@@amazingdude9042 Man, google more... there's tons of stuff and documentaries about Honza Železný, but whatever, make it racist think. Sure.
@@amazingdude9042 nobody cares bud
I knew about the Javelin Throw and thought it was a geeks sport. Then I watched this man!!! I guess my Basketball, Football , Baseball and Soccer and a-few other sports interests need a Geeks tune up! Wow, I really Loved Bruce Jenner my Decathlon hero when I was 16 during the 1976 Olympics! This man really needs to be remembered! Jan Zelezny…. Mr. GOAT
I am Czech and i have never seen some of these clips ever. You are a legend! This video is epic. Much luv from Cz.
I have always admire Jan's extremely powerful throws.
The fact that he wasn't the beefy guy goes to show how much technique he was using.
Greets from Swe😎🇸🇪
UK here and a Steve Backley fan. Jan was just beyond legendary.
I used to hope that Jan was on a bad day so Steve could take a major win, alas Jan always brought his A game to the big tournaments. GOAT
000
Much respect from the USA
IM ALSO HALF CZECH! (My mom is czech) ALE BYDLIM V AMERICE!!!
One thing the narrator said that made the most impression on me , referring to Jan Jelezny’s athletic qualities as a javelin thrower was , “world class focus” , and that is the strong impression that I received , every time I watched him throw his javelin in the documentary, which was every several seconds throughout the length of that interesting and well narrated documentary
When I thrrew javelin in high school in the '70s, you had to throw properly to make the tip stick, or at least break the surface, for the throw to be legal. Because of contraversies over "flat landings" and the distances being achieved, the javelin was redisigned in the '80s with a modified centre of gravity and surface area to promote sticking on landing, so now you can concentrate more on the strength of the throw rather than the correct style to get the tip to land first. The redisgn was also to shorten distances because of the tip pointing down after the javelin reached the top of the arc, rather than "floating" on the descent.
should be highlighted!.. very insightful
Very interesting, Lewis.
Thanks
You are the best person on the internet, next to Putin. 👩🔧🇺🇲🛠️🇷🇺
This is covered in the video.
Jan Zelezeny The man is a legend in my eyes he was the best ever javelin thrower in the sports history even those records which were taken aay from him.The sport committee tried to change the style of javelin for safety reasons!yet Jan Zelezeny kept on throwing and beating his own records these records will never be beaten.23 years he gave the sport before he retired....
The older I get the more I enjoy Basking in the glory of others... This was an awesome video.
It's one of the unexpected little gifts that age bestows, eh? 😀
Right on
I think the older we get we learn to truly respect the time and effort that comes with mastery of a skill.
If he still used the old javelin it wouldn't be a range competition.
*It would be Target Shooting at that point*
TBH, I'd love it if they did both. It'd definitely make it more interesting to watch
Great comment. Thanks for making me laugh out loud :)
That’s a 110 meter bullseye!
I’m going to go to the local vet for the eye I promised the bull.
Yeah I’m not sitting near the final bend for that one 😬
Anything total running production put out I love. I never imagined myself sitting watching a documentary about javelin.
I was thinking the same thing.
Truth!!!!
same here ..lol
Steve Backly would have meddled so many times were it not for this fella. Legend.
Thank you.
Never thought I would watch this right through but glad I did.
Your conclusion as to his all time status is perfectly valid.
Bravo.
No idea why this video was suggested to me, but i enjoyed it thoroughly. Wow what a greatness
I've never watched a javelin event in my life. Yet I watched this whole thing. Great work :)
Never heard of him before, never seen him before - but when I saw this video, it was like an adrenaline rush to be competitive to myself and overcome my greatest works. For me, he stands as an inspiration for life amongst other G.O.A.Ts I follow. #Salute
@Lil Yeet thanks for your introduction
If you were born in 70' you would know about him
Balls; reads like typical USA psychobabble. Never heard of the man - have you been living in a cave?
@@paulweir5031 not actually into this sport or sports except for wrestling, ufc. Been into Hip Hop for as long as I can remember buddy. However better I know about him now and I think everyone who needs a mentor or motivation ought to see him. Anyways, mine is Cave number 289, what is yours? I'd visit you
The "safety" excuse isn't about safety. It's about not wanting to accommodate a longer throwing field.
I mean they'd either have to move the throwing field or make the race track longer as well which isn't very convenient
Not everything is evil, safety reasons were no. 1 there, practical reasons obviously also played a part.
Or move the players AWAY from the throwing area
Or put safety rules for the track in place
Americans looking for ways to keep their records
Absolutely stunning video about one of the greatest athlete. The very best. Highly appreciated!!!
Technique over power. The slightlier built Jan had a better "whip" in his style than the others trying to just use strength and power. Legend
Fun fact: The current record of the Taiwanese grenade throwing record is 80m, by a javelin thrower, beating the previous record of 71m made by an MLB pitcher.
Javelin throwing requires fast arm movement and powerful thrust from legs to provide good momentum. To achieve maximum flight the javelin needs to fly at an angle of 40-50 degrees, so power still applies, it’s just how steep you throw it.
@@williammiao8862 I never thought people would record grenade throwing distances.
@@zedjacob8065 who knows? It could be very useful someday
That's an understatement.
Both technique and explosive power must be on equal footing. One could not do without the other - and that applies to just about any form of any sport where these two elements must be present.
You don't have to be overly muscular to have tremendous strength.
In fact, if you look at his body and bodies, let's say, sprinters or basketball players, their overall combined strength comes from their muscular structure where muscles and ligaments are long and dense.
Such muscle structure provides expansive rubber spring like qualities where the compression and sudden release of that compressed energy is much higher than with heavier and more bulky athletes where such features actually do not provide the energy needed for the maneuver that's being executed.
Jan Zelezny was, beside his almost perfect technique, also very strong and he was an expert in anatomy and studying his own structural advantages and shortfalls.
Anyone who aspires to be the best athlete, must also know all the secrets of his trade better than his Coaches. Those who rely too much on their Coaches usually do not achieve longstanding greatness because they e never been able to scrutinize and analyze themselves harder than their trainers.
Zelezny knows all the nuances of his trade far better than anyone else. That's why he is also a very successful a Coach because he can see inside his athletes heads and bodies.
Longest every throw: he was well short of the stopping line. His record would have been even greater than 98.48 m if his body went to the line.
i bet he kept reserve after the incident with a referee and just imagined the referee standing 90m from him :D
Or he could have had it deemed as another foul. That's why he stopped well short of the line. That's why the best in all sports where lines are involved, stop well before the line. It's not about getting to the line, but to utilize the body to the max.
Remember that thing about making sure this never happens again. He's using that space to make sure he never fouls ever again.
I don't think the extra meter or less of running distance would have that much of an impact. It's 99% form and strength and technique. Maybe it would have put him to 99 if that.
Didn’t the javelin itself change between the world record and the foul? Or did I get the timeline confused?
One wonders what kind of range he could have gotten with the older style Javelin and during the Apex of his career. Maybe he could have literally thrown it off the field.
You mean off the stadium?
@@lekalla Into the audience
Probably into the back of another athletes head
Into the stork carrying a baby.
Hit a car on the street near by the stadium 🙂
That was a great vid. Awoke many memories of watching athletics back then !
In my javelin prime, I analysed his videos for hours on end, picking up on very subtle changes with my coach. I eventually got to 73.95m at age 20 before completely wrecking my elbow. I miss throwing javelin everyday but love coaching the upcoming kids.
I can imagine how hard it must be on joints especially shoulder. I mean my shoulder is dislocated just from watching him throw crazy... 🙂
You nay have the perfect technique but if your shoulder genetics is not gifted, it is just a question of time before you blow it if you compete in the highest level of the sport
I copied Steve Davis snooker stance cue right under the chin at first it was awkward but my game improved immediately.
A lot of body parts should have had enough of javelin throwing after 23 years at JS's level. Pretty sure my elbow would have retired first, and a lot sooner than that..
When I was 6 years old I thew a full sized javelin to a distance of 210 meters but unfortunately nobody was there to witness it.
His throwing technique is utterly sublime. Height, angle, velocity, distance, it's all there. He was a one off as far as the javelin goes. His records will stand for a long, long time.
You think you live in the 19th century
Really great video about my father. Thank you very much.
your dad was a GOAT !!....zdravim z Berouna ..🙂
Your father achieved Super-human strengths! I wish him good health
I'm not saying that you're definitely Not who you say that you are, but it's very suspect that you joined RUclips with this name and comment at the same time.
@@joe3USA it doesn matter ...
Cap
18:05 At the start of the 2000 javelin final Jan’s Olympic record was 89.66m. In the final Steve Backley of GB threw 89.85m in round 2 going into the lead and breaking the Olympic record…Steve held the OR until Jan’s next throw in round 3 when he threw the 90.17m. I remember watching this as it happened. Whatever Steve did in comp Jan stepped it up to take Gold.
Jan Zelzny was simply second to none. He threw over 90 meters 53 times in his career, in 34 separate competitions. 3 Olympic golds, one silver, and 5 Olympic finals in total. 3 World championship golds. Had the longest throw of the year 7 different years. He won 134 out of 200 finals during his 20-year senior career (13 out of 14 finals in 1996, 15 out of 17 in 1994, 14 out of 15 in 1993, 10 out of 11 in 1991) He threw 92.80 when he was 35, and 85.92 when he was 40. His 92.80 throw was in 2001, and no one threw longer than that in 16 years. In one competition Zelezny threw over 90 meters in 5 of his 6 throws. And in Sheffield 1993 he threw over 95 meters two times in the same competition. In the 1995 World Championships, he QUALIFIED with a throw of 90.12m, and in the 2001 World Championships, he qualified with a 90.76m throw (that is longer than the season best of most years, including 2019) This is Michael Jordan/Wayne Gretzky/Michael Phelps -levels of dominance. And yeah, he's also thrown a softball 128.63 meters (422 feet) Just insane.
@Peter Evans dude😂
@Peter Evans You realize all the throwers have the same conditions on the stadium right? Or are you suggesting he had wind at his command and it always stopped when someone else went to throw?
@Peter Evans Oh i forgot about the wind gusts! How could i! He always got the positive ones and everyone else the negative ones! That must be it!
Youre just a troll...
It’s like the governing body tried all they could to stop him
I’m convinced governing bodies hate GOATS… I mean look at Simone Biles. She’s achieved moves no female gymnast in history has even dreamed of. Instead of rewarding her for brand new skills, they said it was dangerous and scored her normally. These standout athletes make it harder for everybody else to feel successful, so they belittle their success and continually move goalposts when they breakout again.
@@jacobskinner4263 damn nice insight.
he was from a communist/postcommunist country after all. if the governing body was western european/american... yeah you can see where im going w this
My thoughts exactly. Harrison Bergeron.
We've seen Formula One and Rally neutered in the name of safety as well. I wonder how frustrating it is for competitors to be held back, knowing they can do better than what they're allowed to do.
I’m sold. If I win the lottery, I’m definitely having a pro javelin thrower on my security staff roster. Sure a sniper could get it done, but the thought of being impaled by a javelin is brutal AF.
Impalement is the other direction. Unless they’re upside down on their head or hands. 🤔😂💀
Get a full Swiss guard style security and make them all guard you with spears.
It happened a lot in pre-modern war.
So you’re telling me the guy was basically competing against himself because nobody could even get close no matter how much the javelins changed? GOAT
Well, no. The video's really misleading. Look up Steve Backley. He and Zelezny were neck and neck for a long time, they broke each other's world records multiple times. Zelezny's the greatest, but not by the gulf this video would have you believe.
@@OrangeDrink74 spot on mate Backley was his main competition for years I do think zelezny had the edge on him but only just
Nope. In his early years he was a long way ahead and his WR was a long way ahead, but his normal throws weren't that far ahead of his top competitors for most of his career. He would regularly win events by 20 or 30 cms.
@@hackerjack79 that makes a lot of sense...not
Steve Brackley for 5mins
"I am going to bed early tonight" I told myself this evening. It is now in the middle of the night and I am totally immersed in a documentary about javelin throwing...
Watching him throw actually gives me goosebumps. The way he moves is so full of skill and power. You can see the force moving from his legs, through his hips, up his lats, and through his arm. It's truly amazing to watch.
The way he transfers all the force onto one foot. Sort of uses himself as a catapult 😂. Though the same thing you can see the power transfer.
Reminds me of a slow-motion video of Nolan Ryan throwing a baseball 109 mph.
Arshad Nadeem 🎉
Has a Loooong way to go
@@rogerstarkey5390 but broke the olympic record though, pretty substantial achievement if you ask me.
And on top of all that, he also did a great job as a coach. Among others, he trained Barbora Špotáková, who holds women's javelin world record since 2008.
Or Jakub Vadlejch, silver medalist from this year Tokyo 2020 olympics, or 2 times olympics bronze medallist and diamond league winner Vitezslav Vesely
Yeah. I wanted to make sure it's a short comment, brevity is usually not my strong discipline. Moreover it is hard to find good quality information and there were other coaches involved, usually, so I didn't want to exaggerate his coaching role.
It was a very happy moment for me to see these two earning silver and bronze on Tokyo 2020. But I chose Barbora as the only example just because she ended up almost as much of a phenomenon in women's javelin as Jan Železný is in men's.
I remember Jan Zalezny as a kid very well, he was the only reason I watched track and field beyond the 100 metres. Watching him for me wasn't about knowing he would win gold, it was about how big the gap would be between him and second place, he really was that dominant. 🐐
They keep changing the rules, he just stays at the top no matter what. Makes you think how in other sports athletes complain about different eras. No excuses.
The video says the rule changes were aimed at safety rather than changing the pecking order, so it's not surprising they didn't keep him from the top. What they did do was prevent him exceeding the 100m-mark, as Uwe Hohn had done. Zelezny would probably have gone well beyond it with a Hohn-type javelin.
@@molybdaenmornell123hopp5 making a bullseye to a bystander in the parklot outside the stadium?
Yeah, probably
@@molybdaenmornell123hopp5 I think easily 110m, maybe even 120-125m. I didn't find out if the old type javelin was lighter but I thought I heard on the video that it was but I might have misheard 🤷♂️ Does anyone know if it used to be also lighter?
@@Juide80 from what I found in my research is that the center of gravity of the spear itself was moved 4 cm forward, to prevent it from falling flat more often and of course, making it go shorter. It doesn’t seem like the weight itself was changed at all
When I see something like that, I am so proud to be Czech! Our country generated so many great athletes like Železny, Jágr, Hašek, Špotáková etc...
Particularly *Emil Zátopek*
@@tonygrimes13 sure there is a lot of others like Zatopek, Sablikova etc..
Your Country has historically produced great Artists, Musicians, composers, scientists and of course, Olympians. I have never visited, but I will. U r right to feel that cultural pride. It's well worth celebrating for the younger achievers today. Greetings from Australia.
My first.. Operation Daybreak heroes. Inspiration
Jirka Prochazka!💪
"It is quite a flex on worldwide sport to say that you changed the rules to an entire athletic endeavor" - KennyS about the AWP, circa 2014.
‘Athletic’ lol.
@@harrisons62 Yeah, I'm all in calling competitive computer games sports, but using the word athletic doesn't really fit.
Maybe it will when some physically demanding VR game becomes a esport, but until then 'athleticism' is reserved.
i'm so used to bad endings that every time you said, "however....", I said, "Sigh. WHAT?!" because i wanted this guy to win everything so much, and I had only known of him for a few minutes after pressing 'play' on this video. That is the sign of an excellent story teller. Well done.
What's remarkable is that I'll never forget his name - having previously never heard of him. Thanks for this documentary.👍🏻
His surname literally means 'made out of iron' on slavic languages
Literally "Iron John".
Is the no 1 of all time the greatest of all time the best of the best ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I love that RUclips is a place where I can learn about an amazing athlete that I otherwise would most likely never have heard of. Awesome video, and I’m so glad it showed up in my recommended
"Zelezny" means "of iron." A true Iron Man. I was also born in Czechoslovakia and I can assure you that we have many more people like him in all different fields of endeavour, even in the USA. Their Czech heritage is usually not known or publicised.
Tak to nevyhlašuj na internetu, přece chceš všechny překvapit, né?
By the way he is Slovak, not Czech😂
@@antonorsula1572 Is Mladá Boleslav in Slovakia? 😳 …He is definitely Czech.
Genuinely disrespectful to Zelezny to say this lol. You make it seem like his success is due to him being Czech. It's because he's one of the best athletes of all time.
@@bryant8307 It’s because Czechia is a shit country nowadays, so people like this guy always show up saying how good everything is just because a few people who were born there are good at sports.
I. e. trying to make the entire country look perfect just because of sports and other non-essential things, while ignoring what’s really happening.
It always feels special watching something like this. Personal documentaries have to be one of the greatest honors for great people. One of the good things to come from the internet.
Thank you for a beautiful and important video! Exceptionally well done! I'm a 68 year old Vietnam era Vet who in high school was a discus and javelin thrower. I have extremely long arms at 38" and had a very similar style in throwing the javelin. Unfortunately the very same year I went to compete nationally, my school outlawed the javelin. In upstate New York a fatality occurred due to a misthrow from a different school and my mine did not want the liability. I went on to placing 2nd in the State championships in discus, but my first love was the javelin. I would practice the javelin 4 days a week, even though I could no longer compete with it.
What always interested me in both the discus and the javelin were their connections to ancient Greece and Rome. Classical mythology is still a favorite hobby. Thank you again for an illuminating look at the world's greatest athlete!
With respect,
~Patrick
They should not outlaw it anywhere. Pretty sure it's so rare as to not happen again. Never hear of javelin deaths so its dumb they banned it.
@pad-zilla1246. I am a javelin thrower from upstate NY and they still don’t really have javelin at meets, with few exceptions. This year I competed at Nationals and ranked first in the state. However, it would’ve been nice if we actually had it at all our meets. Instead of training javelin regularly at practice, my coach had me train for pentathlon.
Damn, when he throws a javelin it looks like he launches a rocket.
I wish they had the technology portrayed in Rocky IV for the Russian or just modern high speed cameras to better understand his form and the forces he delivered. How would his throwing a baseball from the outfield to home plate compare to some of the best outfielders?
Bruh think about this, you've been drafted and ur an rpg guy (don't actually know the correct name for that) and you launch a rocket at some dude and he just grabs I mid air and launches it back at u with his hand. I'd commit XD
I can still see a rocket as it launches. His arm accelerates like they sped up just that part of the video by 3 or 4 times.
I had the same thought. Maybe it's chalk?
Yea the one throw where it looked like it broke the sound barrier as soon as he released it?, honestly yea it could be chalk it could've been sweat or maybe I'm right and as soon as he released the javelin is pierced the sound barrier🤷♂️👀
Changing the rules again, is like devs nerfing a player, but in real life.
Underrated comment
13:40 -- the moment the Devs realized they needed to put the man in chain mail with a helmet before he threw at olympics....just to make it fair.
That throw was like Larry Bird coming into the 1987 three point contest and telling the other guys "who's coming in second?"
Maple is too OP! We need another nerf in here!
Think of taking those guys to an open long field. Security people and no fans just cameras. Let us see how far a man can throw the original javelin. Don’t make a floppy limp one so that it won’t go as far. Don’t change the rules. Let the athletes be as good as they can be
This is why he is the greatest of all time. No other athlete had to deal with the amount of nonsense this guy went through. Every couple of years it seems they change the instrument and the rules of the game, and yet he still smashes world records even as they erase his old ones. I don't think any other athletes had that many world records invalidated, and then got them back.
I have a goose bumps every time when I hear his name..I used to watch with my father every summer Olympic events from '88 to my father's death and every time he admire his performance on just how we prepared to watch him throwing...he used to say "Watch this guy kid, you witness the greatness of its own".
Death?
@@shiva9575 nooo sleep
Uhhhh he’s not dead
@@juliatopsidakis6871 is zelenzy alive then?
@@shiva9575 Of course. He is currently training our other two Olympians (Tokyo 2021: Jakub Vadlejch (Silver) and Vítězslav Veselý (bronze)). And our best javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková (WR 72.28) was also his charge.
Carl Lewis had just set a world record, in the 100 meters, when a reporter asked him, Carl how does it feel to be the fastest man in the world... Carl replied, I'm sure I wouldn't know, but it sure feels good to be the fastest man here today
Met him at Heathrow Airport after the 2017 World Championships. He looked quite surprised to be recognised. Really nice guy.
Man watching the way he turns his whole bodies momentum into a singular javelin propelling force is CRAZY - the dude just stops and every bit of energy is transferred into his arm.
My father was a huge track and field fan in 80's and 90's. When I was born in 1993, my parents were thinking of a great name. My father suggested a name Jan and explained my mother who Zelezny was. Case closed.
This guy is my favourite track and field athlete of all time. I wish to meet him in my life, just to thank him for a cool name and a great backstory he created with being a rather subtle built but an outrageous power and skillset for a javelin thrower.
Haha cool story. Anyway, in Czech name Jan is used in formal way only. Non-Formal is Honza. But I guess you already know it.
@@jiricoufal3835 Actually I did not. In Estonia, I am sometimes asked if my full name is Jaanus or sth Estonian, as Jan seems too short name for our people. I think that my name is the shortest name to write in Russian, as two letters for "Ja" and "n" - Ян
@@caesar1121 oh I see. Funny fact with russian. Had no idea about it. Any way, JZ is still training young athletes, not so difficult to meet him :)
Jan... the best name there is ;) But then again, I am Czech :D
Cheers to Estonia ;)
Jan is a great name, I know.
I just loved watching him. A legend.
Never heard of this guy, despite the fact that I was alive and actually watching track and field events for his entire career. Thank you for sharing. Very cool!