Uwe Hohn Breaks Javelin Barrier

The first and only athlete to throw a javelin beyond 100 meters was East German Uwe Hohn. On July 20, 1984, he threw 104.80 meters, shattering the previous world record of 99.72 meters. A redesigned javelin with its center of gravity moved forward by four centimeters was introduced in 1986, forcing officials to restart the records and leaving Hohn with an "eternal world record" for the old design. Although the change had been proposed before his throw, Hohn's enormous distance accelerated its adoption because similar throws risked exceeding the available space in stadiums.

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