Erik Lemming

World Record: 62.32m (204’ 5”)            Stockholm, Sweden  29 Sep 1912

Erik Lemming was a 190 centimeter (6’ 3”) tall police officer from Stockholm. He dominated javelin throwing for over a decade and from 1899 until 1911 set 13 unofficial world records.

However the javelin was not held at the 1896, 1900, or 1904 Olympics. Lemming did compete at the 1900 Olympics in six separate events, coming in fourth in the hammer and pole vault. At the 1906 Interim Olympics in Athens, he won the javelin (freestyle) competition. He also won two gold medals (regular and freestyle) at the 1908 Olympics in London. Since all the successful athletes held the javelin in the middle, just as they did in the regular event, the freestyle javelin was abandoned after these Games. Finally, Lemming won the 1912 Olympic javelin gold medal.

His inaugural world record was set in the now-abandoned two-hands javelin competition. In this event the athlete threw twice, first with the right hand, then with the left. Lemming achieved 62.32 meters (204’ 5”) with his right hand (the world record) and 44.15 meters (114’ 10”) with his left. Under the pseudonym Erik Otto, he won the national two-handed shot put in 1917, at the age of 37.

source: World Record Breakers in Track & Field Athletics