Contents

Thomas Röhler

German javelin thrower

Thomas Röhler

Röhler competing in 2017
Personal information
Born	(1991-09-30) 30 September 1991 (age 32) Jena, Germany
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Track and field
Event	Javelin throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best	93.90 m (2017)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Germany Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Javelin throw European Championships 2018 Berlin Javelin throw Representing Europe Continental Cup 2018 Ostrava Javelin throw
Updated on 9 September 2018

Thomas Röhler (born 30 September 1991) is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the 2016 Olympic Champion and 2018 European Champion. His personal best of 93.90 m for the event ranks him third on the overall list.^[1]

Career[edit]

Röhler began taking part in track and field as a child in 1998. Raised in Jena, he attended the Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths Sports High school in the city and went on to study at the University of Jena.^[2] He first competed mainly as a high jumper and a triple jumper.^[3] He began to make his impact as a junior (under-20) athlete in the javelin throw in 2010. That year he threw beyond seventy metres for the first time and represented his country at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where he finished in ninth place.^[4] He ended that year with a personal best throw of 76.37 m (250 ft6+1⁄2 in) to place second at the German junior championships. The following year he improved to 78.20 m (256 ft6+1⁄2 in) – a throw which brought him seventh place at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships.^[5]

He established himself as a senior athlete in 2012. He cleared eighty metres for the first time at a meeting in Sankt Wendel, getting a mark of 80.79 m (265 ft1⁄2 in), which ranked him 54th in the world that year.^[6] More crucial was his first national title win at the 2012 German Athletics Championships, where he defeated the more experienced Tino Häber.^[7] His personal best was not sufficient for entry to the 2012 London Olympics, but he was selected for the 2012 European Athletics Championships. On his senior debut for Germany, he placed 13th in javelin qualifying, equalling the mark of finalist Gabriel Wallin, but missing out due to having a shorter second throw.^[8]

The 2013 season saw him achieve his first international medals and he consistently threw beyond eighty metres in competition.^[5] At the 2013 European Cup Winter Throwing in March, he was the runner-up behind Latvia's Zigismunds Sirmais. At the end of May, he threw 83.95 m (275 ft 5 in) at a meeting in Dessau – a performance that placed him 16th in the world that season.^[9] On his debut on the 2013 IAAF Diamond League circuit, he placed top three at the Bislett Games. He was the silver medallist at the 2013 European Team Championships and retained his national title at the 2013 German Athletics Championships. In a high-quality competition at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships, he came third behind Sirmais and German teammate Bernhard Seifert.^[5] Röhler was chosen to compete for Germany at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics and on his global senior debut he did not perform well, having his worst competition of the year and failing to better 75 metres.^[4] He ended the year with a seventh-place finish at the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meet.^[5]

He and Latvian rival Sirmais repeated their placings at the 2014 European Cup Winter Throwing, the German again finishing second.^[10] He made regular appearances on the 2014 IAAF Diamond League circuit: he was fifth at the Prefontaine Classic and Bislett Games, then threw a best of 84.74 m (278 ft 0 in) for third at the Meeting Areva in Paris. He improved this further at the Glasgow Grand Prix, throwing the javelin 86.99 m (285 ft4+3⁄4 in) to take a surprise victory over reigning world champion Vítězslav Veselý.^[11]

At the 2016 Summer OlympicsinRio de Janeiro, he won the gold medal with a throw of 90.30 m, narrowly missing the Olympic record of 90.57 m set by Andreas ThorkildsenofNorway during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2017 IAAF World Championships, he finished fourth with a throw of 88.26 m, six centimetres behind third place.

In July 2018, he won silver at the 2018 German Athletics Championships, with a throw of 88.09 m.^[12] In August, he won gold at the 2018 European Athletics Championships with a throw of 89.47 m.^[13] He won another gold medal in September, at the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup, with an 87.07 m throw.^[14]

At the 2019 World Athletics Championships, Röhler, with a best throw at 79.23 m, did not progress from the qualifying round.^[15]

Competition record[edit]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Germany
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	13th (q)	Javelin throw	78.89 m
2013	European Throwing Cup	Castellón, Spain	2nd	Javelin throw	81.87 m
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	29th (q)	Javelin throw	74.45 m
2014	European Throwing Cup	Leiria, Portugal.	2nd	Javelin throw	81.17 m
	European Championships	Zürich, Switzerland	12th	Javelin throw	70.31 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	4th	Javelin throw	87.41 m
2016	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	5th	Javelin throw	80.78 m
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	Javelin throw	90.30 m
2017	World Championships	London, England	4th	Javelin throw	88.26 m
2018	European Championships	Berlin, Germany	1st	Javelin throw	89.47 m
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	23rd (q)	Javelin throw	79.23 m
2022	European Championships	Munich, Germany	22nd (q)	Javelin throw	71.31 m

Seasonal bests by year[edit]

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

• 2009 – 52.96
• 2010 – 76.37
• 2011 – 78.20
• 2012 – 80.79
• 2013 – 83.95
• 2014 – 87.63
• 2015 – 89.27
• 2016 – 91.28
• 2017 – 93.90
• 2018 – 91.78
• 2019 – 86.99

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Thomas RöhleratWorld Athletics
• Thomas RöhleratDiamond League
• Thomas RöhleratEuropean Athletics (archive)
• Thomas RohleratOlympics.com
• Thomas Rohler at OlympicChannel.com (archived)
• Thomas Rohler at Olympic.org (archived)
• Thomas RöhleratOlympedia
• Thomas Röhler at the Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband (in German)
• Thomas Röhler at the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (in German)