Petra Felke

Petra Meier (née Felke; born 30 July 1959) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Representing East Germany, she became the Olympic Champion in 1988 and broke the world record four times between 1985 and 1988. She is the only woman to throw a javelin 80 metres or more, with her world record of 80.00 m (262 ft 5 1⁄2 in). This throw was the world record from 1988 until 1999, when a new javelin design was implemented. She also won the javelin title at the 1989 IAAF World Cup and silver medals at the World Championships in 1987 and 1991.

Petra Meier

Felke in 1984
Personal information
Birth name	Petra Felke
Nationality	German
Born	30 July 1959 (1959-07-30) (age 65) Saalfeld, East Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Country	East Germany Germany
Sport	Track and field
Event	Javelin throw
Club	SC Motor Jena
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	WR 80.00 m (1988)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing East Germany Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Javelin World Championships 1987 Rome Javelin European Championships 1986 Stuttgart Javelin 1990 Split Javelin Universiade 1981 Bucharest Javelin Representing Germany World Championships 1991 Tokyo Javelin

Career

Born Petra Felke in Saalfeld, East Germany, she trained with Ruth Fuchs at SC Motor Jena. She won the silver medal in the javelin at the 1977 European Junior Championships, and went on to succeed Fuchs as her country's top javelin thrower. She finished third at the GDR Championships in 1978 and 1981, and second in 1982 and 1983, before winning the first of six consecutive titles in 1984. She finished ninth in the final at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, but was prevented from competing at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics due to the Soviet-led boycott. 10 days after the 1984 Olympic javelin final, Felke won the Friendship Games title with a throw of 73.30 metres.

Her first world record came on 4 June 1985, when she broke the record twice on the same day, with throws of 75.26 and 75.40 metres. She ended the 1985 season throwing 66.22 metres to finish second behind Olga Gavrilova at the World Cup in Canberra. A year later at the 1986 European Championships, she threw 72.52 m to win the silver medal behind Great Britain's Fatima Whitbread. Her third world record came on 29 July 1987, when she threw 78.90 metres, but five weeks later at the World Championships in Rome, she again finished second to Whitbread, who won with 76.64 m to Felke's 71.76 m.

On 9 September 1988, Felke broke the world record for the fourth time and became the first woman to ever throw the javelin further than 80 metres. The world record throw was officially measured at 80.00 m, exactly. However, the rules in force at the time dictated that measurements had to be rounded down to the nearest 2 cm, so the actual distance could have been up to 80.0199 metres. Two weeks later, she won the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics with a throw of 74.68 metres, with Whitbread winning the silver medal and compatriot Beate Koch winning the bronze. She went on to win the 1989 World Cup title in Barcelona, as well as a bronze medal at the 1990 European Championships.

In 1991, now competing for a unified Germany and as Petra Meier, she won silver at the World Championships in Tokyo with a 68.68 m throw. She concluded her international career at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where she finished seventh with a disappointing 59.02 m. The javelin specifications were changed in 1999 and the records were restarted, thus Meier's record became eternal. As of 2023, Barbora Špotáková is the new world record holder with a throw of 72.28 m.

International competitions

All results regarding Javelin

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing East Germany
1977	European Junior Championships	Donetsk, Soviet Union	2nd	57.68 m
1981	Universiade	Bucharest, Romania	1st	65.20 m
1982	European Championships	Athens, Greece	7th	65.56 m
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	9th	62.02 m
1984	Friendship Games	Prague, Czechoslovakia	1st	73.30 m
1985	World Cup	Canberra, Australia	2nd	66.22 m
1986	Goodwill Games	Seattle, United States	1st	70.78 m
	European Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	2nd	72.52 m
	Grand Prix Final	Rome, Italy	1st	70.64 m
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	2nd	71.76 m
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	1st	74.68 m
1989	World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	1st	70.32 m
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	3rd	66.56 m
	Grand Prix Final	Athens, Greece	1st	66.44 m
Representing Germany
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	68.68 m
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	7th	59.02 m

External links

• Petra Felke-Meier at World Athletics
• Petra Meier-Felke at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)