Tero Pitkämäki

Tero Kristian Pitkämäki (born December 19, 1982 in Ilmajoki) is a Finnish javelin thrower and the former World Champion. Pitkämäki is known for his rivalry with Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen. The two are very close friends, however.

Pitkämäki finished 8th in the javelin contest at the 2004 Summer Olympics with the result 83.01m and has since developed into one of the world's leading javelin throwers. As of August 2005, he had thrown 91.53m, hence he was one of the favorites at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, which were held in his home country. However, he was only fourth with a result of 81.27 m. Pitkämäki took his first medal by placing second at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics.

On August 5, Pitkämäki won his 4th Finnish championship in a row with a throw of 89.43 meters. In the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan, Pitkämäki secured gold medal in men's javelin with a throw of 89.16 meters. With his last throw in the competition, he bettered his final result to 90.33 meters.

source: Wikipedia