Tiina Lillak
Encyclopedia
Tiina Lillak is a former Finnish
javelin throw
er, who was among the best female javelin throwers in the world in the early and mid 1980s. While she has been credited for starting a string of successes for Finnish female Javelin thrower, her more notable accomplishments include winning a world championship and an Olympic
medal. After retiring from athletics, Lillak began working as a masseuse.
1983:
1984:
1986:
1987:
1988:
1989:
1990:
1991:
1992:
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
javelin throw
Javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
er, who was among the best female javelin throwers in the world in the early and mid 1980s. While she has been credited for starting a string of successes for Finnish female Javelin thrower, her more notable accomplishments include winning a world championship and an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
medal. After retiring from athletics, Lillak began working as a masseuse.
Timeline
1982:- On July 29 Lillak threw for a new world record in HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
: 72.40 meters. However, the record was broken the following September when GreekGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
thrower Sofia SakorafaSofia SakorafaSofia Sakorafa is a former javelin thrower from Greece. She was born in Trikala.She broke the world record on 1982-09-16 with a throw of 74.20 metres. That mark stood as a Greek record until the new javelin was introduced in 1999....
reached 74.20 meters. - Lillak finished fourth in the 1982 European Championships in Athletics1982 European Championships in AthleticsThe 13th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 September to 12 September 1982 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece.-Track:1974 |1978 |1982 |1986 |1990 |-Field:1974 |1978 |1982 |1986 |1990 |-Track:1974 |1978 |1982 |1986 |...
, which were held in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
1983:
- On June 13 Lillak again broke the world record, throwing 74.76 meters in TampereTampereTampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
. This distance remained a world record until June 1985, and also stood as a national record for FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
until 1999, when the javelin type was altered and the former records were wiped clean. - In the 1983 World Championships in Athletics1983 World Championships in AthleticsThe inaugural World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between August 7 and August 14, 1983....
held in HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Lillak became the champion in front of her home crowd when she threw for 70.82 meters (enough for the win) on her last attempt leaving Britain's 2nd placed Fatima Whitbread in tears at Trackside as she went running off down the track celebrating with the ecstatic crowd. The whole season was a success for Lillak, who threw over 70 meters in 16 separate competitions and didn't lose a single time.
1984:
- Although Lillak had only taken part in three competitions earlier in the year, she still managed to earn an OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
silver medal at 1984 Summer Olympics1984 Summer OlympicsThe 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
1986:
- Finished fourth in the 1986 European Championships in Athletics1986 European Championships in AthleticsThe 14th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 to 31 August 1986 at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, a city in West Germany.-Track:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Field:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Track:...
.
1987:
- Finished sixth in the 1987 World Championships in Athletics1987 World Championships in AthleticsThe 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987.-Track:1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995...
.
1988:
- In the Seoul Olympics, Lillak did not pass the qualifying round.
1989:
- Lillak participated in five competitions.
1990:
- Won the last of her seven Finnish national championships.
- Finished tenth in the 1990 European Championships in Athletics1990 European Championships in AthleticsThe 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, a city in Croatia .It was the last participation of East Germany ....
.
1991:
- In the 1991 World Championships in Athletics1991 World Championships in AthleticsThe 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1 and athletes from 167 countries participated in the event.The event is best-remembered for the...
, Lillak did not pass the qualifying round (in fact, she did not throw over 62 meters the entire season).
1992:
- Retired from athletics.
External links
- Lillak at the sporting-heroes.net site
- All of Lillak's competition results
- Last and winning throw in 1983 World Championships in Helsinki (video)