Steve Backley

Steve Backley (Stephen James Backley; born February 12, 1969 in Sidcup ) is a former British javelin thrower. He was European champion four times in a row.

Since the early 1990s, he was among the world leaders. In 1992 he presented on January 25 in Auckland with 91.46 meters, his personal best. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, he won the bronze medal with 83.38 meters, and at the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart in 1993, he came in fourth place.

He then won at almost every World Athletics event the silver medal: In the 1995 World Cup in Gothenburg, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, at the World Cup in 1997 in Athens and at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. With the silver medal in Sydney, he was the first Briton to win three medals in track and field competition at three Olympic Games. Only in the 1999 World Championships in Seville, he had to settle for an eighth place. In his fourth Olympic start, the 2004 Games in Athens, he reached fourth place.

Outstanding Steve Backley was at the European Athletics Championships. Four times in a row he won the title in 1990 in Split, 1994 in Helsinki, 1998 in Budapest and in Munich in 2002. At the Commonwealth Games, he won the 1990 in Auckland, in 1994 in Victoria and 2002 in Manchester, while he won silver in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 after the South African Marius Corbett.

Backley was honored as the 1990 World Athlete of the Year. In 1995 he was awarded the fifth stage of the Order of the British Empire (Member MBE) and 2003 with the fourth stage ( Officer, OBE).

Steve Backley had a competition weight of 100 kg at a height of 1.96 m.