Jan Železný (Czech pronunciation:[janˈʒɛlɛzniː]ⓘ; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World and Olympic champion and holds the world record with a throw of 98.48 metres (323 ft 1 in). Widely considered the greatest javelin thrower of the modern era, he also has the fourth, fifth and sixth best performances of all time. He broke the world record a total of four times.[2]
Železný holds the world record of 98.48 metres (323 ft 1 in), set in 1996, and the World Championships record of 92.80 metres (304 ft 6 in), set in 2001. On 26 March 1997 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, he threw over the 90-metre barrier five times in a single meet. Until September 2020, he was also the only athlete to throw more than 95 metres with the new type of javelin, something he achieved three times.[2]
Železný planned to retire after the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, where he won the bronze medal with a throw of 85.92 metres (281 ft 11 in).
He took leave of his career on 19 September 2006 on exhibition in Mladá Boleslav, the place where he started with athletics.
Four days after winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, Železný had a tryout as a baseballpitcher with the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium. Both Železný and the Braves treated the tryout seriously and not as a "publicity stunt" or "sideshow," though Železný had no baseball experience beyond throwing a ball at home with his young son.[5]
