Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw

Men's javelin throw at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	September 2 (qualifications) September 3 (final)
Competitors	23 from 15 nations
Medalists
Klaus Wolfermann  West Germany Jānis Lūsis  Soviet Union William Schmidt  United States

Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The Men's Javelin Throw event at the 1972 Summer Olympics took place on September 2–3 at the Olympic Stadium, Munich.

The qualifying standard was .

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record	Jānis Lūsis	93.80 m	Stockholm, Sweden	July 6, 1972
Olympic record	Jānis Lūsis (URS)	90.10 m	Mexico City, Mexico	October 16, 1968

Results

Qualifying Round

Rank	Series	Athlete	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
1	A	Klaus Wolfermann	West Germany	86.22			86.22	Q
2	B	Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union	82.92			82.92	Q
3	A	Hannu Siitonen	Finland	81.80			81.80	Q
4	B	Miklós Németh	Hungary	70.90	81.78		81.78	Q
5	A	Frederick Luke	United States	81.34			81.34	Q
6	B	Manfred Stolle	East Germany	80.78			80.78	Q
7	A	Jorma Kinnunen	Finland	80.10			80.10	Q
8	B	Milton Sonsky	United States	79.96	78.78	74.24	79.96	q
9	B	József Csík	Hungary	79.08	x	x	79.08	q
10	A	William Schmidt	United States	75.28	75.90	78.96	78.96	q
11	A	Lolesio Tuita	France	75.36	78.78	77.34	78.78	q
12	A	Bjørn Grimnes	Norway	x	77.54	x	77.54	q
13	B	Richard Dowswell	Canada	66.54	72.52	77.42	77.42
14	A	Gergely Kulcsar	Hungary	x	x	77.24	77.24
15	B	Urs von Wartburg	Switzerland	76.36	x	76.20	76.36
16	A	André Claude	Canada	75.56	x	x	75.56
17	B	David Travis	Great Britain	74.68	70.10	74.30	74.68
18	B	Günther Glassauer	West Germany	x	x	73.12	73.12
19	B	Jacques Abehi	Ivory Coast	72.20	x	x	72.20
20	A	Renzo Cramerotti	Italy	71.12	x	x	71.12
21	B	Donald Velez	Nicaragua	x	63.74	x	64.74
22	A	Seif Abdelat Alkahtani	Saudi Arabia	x	x	53.06	53.06
	B	Leo Pusa	Finland	x	x	x	NM
	A	Edmund Jaworski	Poland				DNS

Finals

The eight highest-ranked competitors after three rounds qualified for the final three throws to decide the medals.

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	1	2	3	4	5	6	Result
	Klaus Wolfermann	West Germany	86.68	85.14	x	88.40	90.48	84.70	90.48 OR
	Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union	88.88	x	89.54	x	81.66	90.46	90.46
	William Schmidt	United States	75.96	84.42	x	79.92	84.12	x	84.42
4	Hannu Siitonen	Finland	84.32	x	x	x	x	x	84.32
5	Bjørn Grimnes	Norway	71.86	82.38	83.08	x	x	x	83.08
6	Jorma Kinnunen	Finland	x	82.08	75.76	x	x	77.60	82.08
7	Miklós Németh	Hungary	80.80	81.98	78.58	81.88	x	81.40	81.98
8	Frederick Luke	United States	66.64	x	80.06	79.70	71.46	x	80.06
9	Manfred Stolle	East Germany	x	x	79.32				79.32
10	Milton Sonsky	United States	77.62	77.94	72.38				77.94
11	Lolesio Tuita	France	76.34	x	69.38				76.34
12	József Csík	Hungary	75.52	76.14	x				76.14