Track And Field : Javelin Throw

The objetive of this event is of course to throw the javelin as far as possible. Contrary to the rest of the throwing events (weight, hammer and disc) in the javelin the athlete gets to run all the way up to the throwing line, which means the javelin can build up a lot more speed. It is not uncommon in professional events for the javelin to reach up to 110km/h at launch point.

As in the Long Jump, we have a very limited run up line, so building up speed quickly is key here to perform well.

Throwing

When we get close to the throwing line we need to get ready to change from the running buttons to the action one. In the Track and Field Javelin Throw event, you dont have a few seconds to do this, as opposed to the Long Jump, which makes things a lot more difficult. The faster we can do the change, the less speed we will loose and the better the throw will be. Also in this event you cannot step on the line like in the Long Jump.

Speed is important and so is the throw angle. The best angle is at 42º. In this aspect the game is very realistic. When it was built in 1983 the javelins had a more retrased gravity center so longer distances were archieved with an angle just below 45º.

However in 1986 the official javelin model changed and the gravity centre was moved forward, closer to the front tip. This made the javelin "head down" sooner and so it was harder to archieve longer throws.

The reason behind the redesign was simple: In 1986 Uwe Hohn reach the increible lengh of 104.0 meters in the Track and Field Javelin Throw event. This lead to the consideration of dropping the event or redesign it to fit safely in a standar size stadium. Those guy were running out of room!.

In the Air

It has never been written before and the Konami manual says nothing about it, but try this your self and you will too come to the conclusion that it just works: use the running buttons while the javelin is in the air for a little extra edge. A lot of people dont nwo about this and this they will never be able to reach the truly high scores. Well know you know, so keep bashing those running butons all the way until the javelin lands and it will make a big difference.

In the MAME emulator you can take a screenshot with the [F12] key and it will be saved in the "C:\mame\snap\trackfld\" folder. That is, if you have followed the Track And Field installation instructions from this page.

You have but a few seconds once the race is finish to take a screeshot, so it is worth taking an habit of putting your finger on top of the [F12] key, just in case you happend to have made a very good mark. It takes almost no space on your computer by the way, so you could have thousands and still it will weight less than 1 song.

You can see what are the internet Track and Field World Records here.