Mick Hill

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Mick Hill (born October 22, 1964 in Leeds ) is a British athlete who was among the world's top javelin throwers for around 15 years . After he was able to place himself at the British national championships for the first time in 1985, he was still active into the 21st century.

Career

Between 1986 and 2002, Hill represented his country without a single interruption at all major athletic events:

There are also four starts at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986 , in Auckland in 1990 , in Victoria in 1994 and in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 .

Hill's first international year was 1986 when he competed at both the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and the European Championships in Stuttgart . In Edinburgh he won the silver medal with 78.56 m behind David Ottley (gold with 80.62 m), in Stuttgart he came eighth with 77.34 m.

Four years later, in 1990 in Auckland and Split , the situation was almost the same: Hill won his second silver medal behind Steve Backley (83.32 m and 86.02 m) and was again eighth after qualifying at the European Championships in Split . This time, however, he was able to improve in the final and came in fourth with 82.38 m, just 28 cm behind the Swede Patrik Bodén , who won the bronze medal.

At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria Hill lost again to his compatriot Backley (81.84 m and 82.74 m) and was allowed to take home the third silver medal. At the European Cup in Birmingham he came third with 85.28 m. He could use this consolation, because he suffered a bitter defeat at the European Championships in Helsinki in the same year. In the qualification he threw 84.44 m, a distance that was only surpassed by Seppo Räty - and would have been enough for the silver medal in the final. But there he did not get more than 80.66 m and ended up in sixth place.

This low was followed by a high: Although this time there was only the bronze medal (83.80 m) behind Steve Backley (silver with 87.38 m) and the South African Marius Corbett (gold with 88.75 m) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games , but he was successful for the first time at a European championship. In Budapest things didn't look particularly good for Hill after qualifying because he was only tenth with 80.14 m. In the final, however, he literally exploded and won the silver medal with 86.92 m behind Steve Backley and ahead of the German Raymond Hecht . The following comparison shows that the placement also corresponded to the performance consistency of the three athletes:

  • Backley: 89.72 (1st) - 85.69 (4th) - 84.87 (6th)
  • Hill : 86.92 (5th) - 85.77 (4th) - 85.72 (6th)
  • Pike: 86.63 (3rd) - 85.68 (1st) - 83.51 (2nd)

Hill was also successful at world championships. He finished his debut in Rome in 1987 with a respectable seventh place (79.66 m). In 1991 in Tokyo , where he had just reached the final as twelfth in the qualification, he was able to increase from 79.54 m to 84.12 m, which meant fifth place. A good three meters separated him from the bronze medal. Two years later, in 1993 in Stuttgart , he threw the fourth best distance of the qualification with 80.78 m and increased to 82.96 m in the final. He won the bronze medal behind the Czech Jan Železný (gold with 85.98 m) and the Finn Kimmo Kinnunen (silver with 84.78 m). The following comparison of the three best litters of the medalists shows that Hill did not come close to Zelezny, but Kinnunen was only marginally inferior:

  • Zelezny: 85.98 (5th attempt) - 84.62 (6th) - 83.82 (4th)
  • Kinnunen: 84.78 (3rd) - 82.46 (6th) - 81.72 (5th)
  • Hill: 82.96 (6th) - 82.89 (1st) - 81.48 (5th)

The year 1993 should bring Hill even more successes. At the final of the Grand Prix in London and the European Cup in Rome, he finished third and second respectively.

At the following World Championships - in Gothenburg in 1995 , in Athens in 1997 and in Edmonton in 2001 , Hill had three bad luck. In Gothenburg his best distance of 83.54 m would have earned him the silver medal if he had not thrown it in the qualification, but in the final, where he only came in 81.06 m and sixth place, and in Athens he missed the bronze medal , which went to the Greek Konstandinos Gatsioudis , by ten centimeters. This was all the more annoying when Hill, as the following comparison of the three best litters of both athletes shows, was actually superior:

  • Gatsioudis: 86.64 (2nd) - 83.98 (3rd) - 81.70 (1st)
  • Hill: 86.54 (2nd) - 84.48 (1st) - 83.64 (4th)

In Edmonton, he finally presented a promising 84.88 m in qualifying, only to break in in the final: There he had only one valid attempt, which landed at a modest 77.81 m. So he only had the consolation that 84.88 m would not have been enough for a medal. At the 1999 World Championships in Seville , he was 14th in the qualification with 80.75 m and not made it to the final.

Hill was denied Olympic honors. At the 1988 Games in Seoul he came in 20th place with 77.20 m. In the following games, he was able to qualify for the final, but had to end the competition after three throws, as he never made it into the top eight came.

Performance development

year 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Width (m) 78.56 85.24 81.30 83.60 86.32 85.32 86.94 86.36 84.14 81.42 85.42 83.94 84.94 83.71 83.42 82.90

Placements at the British Championships

year 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Width (m) 79.56 (2.) 81.68 MASTER 79.94 (2.) 81.22 MASTER 84.54 MASTER 85.32 (2.) 84.60 MASTER 80.54 MASTER 81.42 (2.) 81.55 (2.) 80.28 (3.) 79.98 (2.) 77.86 (1.) 76.35 (1.) 79.00 (3.)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hill, Mick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British javelin thrower
DATE OF BIRTH October 22, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeds