Pauli Lauri Nevala (30 November 1940 – 20 June 2025) was a Finnish

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er.Pauli Nevala
sports-reference.com His first major international meet was the

1962 European Athletics Championships The 7th European Athletics Championships were held from 12–16 September 1962 in the JNA Stadium in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia). Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the ''Glasgow Herald''. Just before the m ...

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, where he went out in the qualification round. The next year saw him step up to the very upper echelon of javelin throwers with his new personal best (and national record) of 86.33 meters, thrown in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

on 16 July 1963. This was very close to the world record at the time (86.74 m). In the Olympic year 1964 however, Nevala had major problems even breaking 80 meters and did not enter the Tokyo Olympics as a favorite. He cleared the Olympic qualification quite easily while the world record holder, Terje Pedersen of Norway, was knocked out – the first man not to qualify. In the final Nevala threw confidently from the start, and took the lead with his fourth throw of 82.66 m, his best that year. This was eventually enough for a victory, narrowly ahead of Gergely Kulcsár. After the Olympics Nevala's career stagnated. He finished fourth at the

1966 European Athletics Championships The 8th European Athletics Championships were held from 30 August to 4 September 1966 in the Stadium Puskás Ferenc, Nép Stadium in Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Hera ...

in Budapest. His attempt to defend his Olympic title at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

was cut short in the qualification as his longest throw was controversially declared flat and he failed to advance to the final. In 1969, Nevala's career had a major resurgence, as he finally broke his six-year-old personal best multiple times, culminating in a 91.40 m throw in his hometown of

Teuva Teuva () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The population of Teuva is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is . The municipality is unilingua ...

. At the 1969 European Championships, Nevala took the silver medal behind Jānis Lūsis of the

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. Nevala later openly attributed this resurgence to

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

s, which were not yet forbidden at the time. In 1970, Nevala was arguably the best javelin thrower in the world winning 50 out of his 55 competitions. He threw over 90 meters in 5 competitions, over 85 meters in 32 competitions, and over 80 meters in 52 competitions. His top 10 average of the season was 90.12 m and all-season average 85.86 m. Nevala's personal best of 92.64 m in Helsinki on 6 September 1970 landed only 6 cm short of Jorma Kinnunen’s world record. In addition to the world's best performance of the year, Nevala was ranked as the number one javelin thrower in the world by

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

. Nevala and Kinnunen intentionally fouled all their qualification throws at the 1970 Finnish Championships as a protest against the Finnish Amateur Athletic Association. The protest eventually led to an improved stipend system. Nevala's career suddenly ended in April 1971 when, in his very first competition of the year in

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, he injured his shoulder so badly he could never throw seriously again. Pauli Nevala died on 20 June 2025, at the age of 84.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevala, Pauli 1940 births 2025 deaths Sportspeople from Raseborg Finnish male javelin throwers Olympic gold medalists for Finland Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Finland European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Uusimaa 20th-century Finnish sportsmen 21st-century Finnish people Finnish Athletics Championships winners