Tom Petranoff

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Tom Petranoff (born April 8, 1958 in Aurora ) is an American athlete who was active as a javelin thrower with interruptions and very variable success in the 1980s and 1990s . He set a world record and became vice world champion. In 1991 he acquired the South African citizenship.

Petranoff is a vehement critic of the politicization of sport in the form of boycotts and the non-admission of certain states to international competitions. His demand for the separation of sport and politics, that the political line of a state says nothing about the personal political views of the athletes concerned, earned him a ban of several years.

He is 1.83 meters tall and had a competition weight of 98 kg.

Career

Petranoff began his athletic career as a baseball and football player at Palomar Jr. College in San Marcos, California . His first attempt with the spear in 1977 was so successful that he was asked to join the school team. Within a few weeks he rose from 66.90 m to the junior record of 77.50 m, which he screwed to 79.74 m in the junior international match USA - USSR. In the spring of 1979 he moved to California State University Northridge . On April 12, he surpassed the 80 m mark for the first time under his new coach Bill Webb. In the 1980 Olympic year he finally came in fourth at the eliminations in Eugene with 82.74 m, with the third-placed thrower, Duncan Atwood , only defeated because of the poorer second-best attempt. However, Petranoff did not have to be angry about this bad luck for long, as the USA shortly afterwards declared the boycott of the Olympic Games in Moscow . He was also accepted into the US Olympic Committee-run Elite Athletics Program, where he found excellent training opportunities. In 1982 he was able to place himself on the world rankings for the first time with a litter of 88.40 m.

The following year, 1983, would be the year of his greatest triumphs. In January he threw 294 ft (approx. 90 m) in a competition in Australia, the second largest distance ever achieved by an American after Robert Roggy's 315 ft . On May 15, 1983, Petranoff hit the jackpot in the truest sense of the word: at a Pepsi Invitational at the University of Los Angeles , he threw the spear to an incredible 99.72 m and improved the three-year-old world record of the Hungarian Ferenc Paragi by exactly three meters . Two months later he came in an international match between the USA and GDR on 94.69 m and defeated Detlef Michel , who achieved the largest loser distance to date with 92.05 m. After several more 90 m throws, the first World Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 1983 did not end with the expected victory: In the pouring rain, Petranoff was able to repeat his qualifying performance with 85.60 m, but was clearly defeated by the victorious with 89.48 m Detlef Michel (GDR), whose four valid final throws were all further than Petranoff's best litter. Despite winning the silver medal, the American was deeply disappointed. She should initiate his athletic decline.

In 1984 he unexpectedly lost his world record to Uwe Hohn from the GDR, who improved it by more than 5 meters and was the first thrower in the world to reach over 100 meters (104.80 m). Since the GDR, however, as well as most other Eastern Bloc countries , the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles boycotted, Petranoff was considered a favorite. At first everything went well for him: In the qualification he achieved the best distance of all participants with 85.96 m. But then he literally collapsed in the final. His only valid attempt landed at a pitiful 78.40 m, which meant 10th place. With his qualification distance he would have won silver again.

Petranoff seemed to get along well with the new javelin introduced in 1986: He threw it to 85.38 m, which he said was a world record (the official list is the German Klaus Tafelmeier with 85.74 m in first place). Two years later, at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul , his losing streak continued when he failed to qualify with 77.48 m.

In 1989 Petranoff emigrated to South Africa with his family due to differences with the American athletics leadership . However, since South Africa was excluded from participating in international sports competitions because of its apartheid policy , Petranoff caused a scandal with his declaration that he wanted to continue his career in this country and was banned from the Athletics Congress for six years. Several record throws that Petranoff achieved in 1990 and 1991 were not officially recognized for this reason. In 1992, when South Africa was allowed to return to the international sports arena, Petranoff, who in the meantime had South African citizenship, managed a throw over 87.26 m (the year before he had already come to 89.16 m), which was noted as a South African record . However , Petranoff was denied participation in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona because the new South African athletics leadership had not yet established itself. He then announced his withdrawal from active sports.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta , Petranoff took part as a supervisor of the Paralympic thrower team of South Africa. All twelve athletes won a medal (6 × gold, 4 × silver and 2 × bronze), with the gold medalist in javelin throwing, Stephanus Lombaard , setting a new world record.

With so many successes of his protégés, Petranoff evidently did not want to stand back. He started a second career as a senior athlete and won two gold medals in the M40 age group at the 1998 World Masters Games in Eugene and at the 1999 World Masters Athletics Championships in Gateshead . With 76.91 m, thrown on June 12, 1999 in Kitchener , Ontario , he holds the US senior record.

In December 1997, Petranoff returned to the United States. He had already built up his economic existence in South Africa - as a sporting goods retailer. His plan to develop a spear with which the young people could train in the poor spatial conditions of the townships resulted in the so-called Turbo Jav , which has the same aerodynamic properties as an ordinary spear, but is made of plastic and has small dimensions. Part of the turnover goes to disabled sports.

Tom Petranoff now lives in Rhode Island . He has four daughters (Shannon, Whitney, Leigh and Kelly).

Successes and placements

  • US Championships:
    • 1982 3.273-10
    • 1983 2. 280-3
    • 1985 Champion 286-1
    • 1986 Champion 250-5 (76.32 m)
    • 1998: Champion Veterans Championship 76.20 m
    • 1999: 2nd Open Nationals 75.21 m
  • South African Championships:
    • 1989 - 93 5 times in a row (84.40 - 83.90 - 83 - 82.08 - 82.38)

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