Tom Petranoff

Tom Petranoff

Personal information
Born	April 8, 1958
Medal record Men's Athletics Competitor for the USA World Championships Silver 1983 Helsinki Javelin Olympic Boycott Games Silver 1980 Philadelphia Javelin Competitor for South Africa African Championships in Athletics Gold 1992 Mauritius Javelin Gold 1993 Durban Javelin

Thomas ("Tom") Alan Petranoff (born April 8, 1958 in Aurora, Illinois) is a former world record holder in the javelin throw; his May 1983 effort was greater than the length of an entire American football field at 99.72 meters (327'2"). Tom Petranoff's world record added precisely three meters to the previous global standard of 96.72, set in 1980 by Hungary's Ferenc Paragi. Petranoff's prodigious effort fueled further discussion and speculation regarding the likelihood of alterations to the javelin's design and flight characteristics. Propelled by the need to shorten distances and the then frequent flat or ambiguous landings (which resulted in many controversial official judgements), a change to a new design finally took effect in April 1986.^[1] By then, East German Uwe Hohn had shattered Petranoff's mark with an incredible throw of 104.80 meters. However, this only came after the changes had been officially proposed and (unlike Petranoff's record and contrary to a popular myth) had nothing to do with the change.^[1]

Petranoff's mark with the old javelin design was never exceeded by any throw other than Hohn's monster mark. He also did well with the new design; his personal best of 89.16, thrown at Potchefstroom, South Africa on March 1, 1991, was at the time the second best ever (excluding marks thrown with a soon illegalized "rough-tailed javelin" that had been introduced by Miklós Németh), behind only Steve Backley's world record of 89.58, and as of 2009 has still only been exceeded by 12 throwers.

In 1984, Petranoff won The Superstars championship with a record score of 61 points. He qualified for the United States Olympic Team, but finished a disappointing 10th in the final in Los Angeles.

A native of Illinois, Petranoff later became a citizen of South Africa and competed for that country in various international competitions.

Petranoff is also the inventor of the "Turbo Javelin." This implement is used for javelin practice, especially of the indoor kind. Made of heavy duty plastic and a rubber tip, the turbo javelin is very safe and ideal for indoor practice, and makes a good substitute for younger throwers as the official javelin can be dangerous. It is now used in its own competitions for people of all ages and is great for recreation departments and much more. The world record holder with the turbo javelin is Breaux Greer of the U.S.A.

Petranoff now lives in Rhode Island; he has coached for institutions such as Boston University.

Achievements

Representing the USA
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	10th	78.40 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	4th	81.28 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	18th	77.48 m
Representing  South Africa
1992	African Championships	Mauritius	1st	87.26 m
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	22nd	75.26 m
	African Championships	Durban, South Africa	1st	82.40 m

Seasonal bests by year

• 1987 - 81.28
• 1991 - 89.16
• 1992 - 87.26
• 1993 - 81.46
• 1999 - 76.45
• 2003 - 60.88

References

External links

• Interview

v t e United States Superstars Champions 1973: Bob Seagren 1974: Kyle Rote, Jr. 1975: O. J. Simpson 1976: Kyle Rote, Jr. 1977: Kyle Rote, Jr. 1978: Wayne Grimditch 1979: Greg Pruitt 1980: Charles White 1981: Renaldo Nehemiah 1982: Renaldo Nehemiah 1983: Renaldo Nehemiah 1984: Tom Petranoff 1985: Mark Gastineau 1986: Renaldo Nehemiah 1987: Herschel Walker 1988: Herschel Walker 1989: Willie Gault 1990: Willie Gault 1991: Kelly Gruber 1992: Mike Powell 1993: Dave Johnson 1994: Dave Johnson 1995: competition not held 1996: competition not held 1997: competition not held 1998: Jason Sehorn 1999: Jason Sehorn 2000: Jason Sehorn 2001: Hermann Maier 2002: Bode Miller 2003: Jeremy Bloom

v t e 1984 USA Olympic Track & Field Team Qualification 1984 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) Men's track & road athletes Ray Armstead Alonzo Babers Kirk Baptiste Ron Brown Tonie Campbell Don Clary Paul Cummings Brian Diemer Marco Evoniuk Greg Foster Sam Graddy Johnny Gray John Gregorek Danny Harris Tranel Hawkins Jim Heiring Thomas Jefferson Earl Jones Roger Kingdom Steve Lacy Carl Lewis Henry Marsh John Marshall Antonio McKay Walter McCoy Edwin Moses Sunder Nix Daniel O'Connor Vince O'Sullivan Doug Padilla Pete Pfitzinger Pat Porter Alberto Salazar Carl Schueler Steve Scott Calvin Smith Willie Smith Jim Spivey John Tuttle Craig Virgin Men's field athletes Duncan Atwood Willie Banks Earl Bell Tim Bright Edward Burke Art Burns Michael Carter Mike Conley, Sr. John Crist Milton Goode Bill Green Al Joyner Dave Laut Carl Lewis Jud Logan Doug Lytle Mike McRae Larry Myricks Doug Nordquist Tom Petranoff John Powell Steve Roller Dwight Stones Mike Tully Mac Wilkins Augie Wolf Jim Wooding Women's track & road athletes Evelyn Ashford Sharieffa Barksdale Joan Benoit Jeanette Bolden Cindy Bremser Valerie Brisco-Hooks Alice Brown Judi Brown Julie Brown Robin Campbell Chandra Cheeseborough Mary Decker Diane Dixon Benita Fitzgerald-Brown Kim Gallagher Randy Givens Florence Griffith Joyner Joan Hansen Denean Howard Sherri Howard Julie Isphording Missy Kane Lillie Leatherwood Pam Page Diana Richburg Kim Turner Angela Wright-Scott Ruth Wysocki Women's field athletes Jodi Anderson Carol Cady Laura De Snoo Leslie Deniz Cindy Greiner Lorna Griffin Joni Huntley Jackie Joyner Carol Lewis Ramona Pagel Louise Ritter Karin Smith Pamela Spencer Lynda Suffin Cathy Sulinski Angela Thacker Coaches —