Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is an English retired track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a firm fixture in the British national athletics team. He won four gold medals at the European Championships, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, two silvers and a bronze at the Olympic Games, and two silvers at the World Championships. Currently, he is an occasional commentator for athletics competitions, especially the field events.
Career
Early life
Backley was educated at Hurst Primary School, Bexley, and later at Bexley and Erith Technical High School for Boys (now Beths Grammar School) in his teens. He was a member of the South East London-based Cambridge Harriers Athletics club, and competed for Bexley in the London Youth Games. He enrolled at Loughborough University in October 1988 to study for a BSc Honours degree in physical education, sports science and recreation management. Although he completed his first year there and remained a student until 2002, the time he dedicated to the javelin prevented him from completing his studies. However, on 16 December 2002 Loughborough University honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Technology honoris causa.
Backley's first significant title, was won in 1987 when he threw 75.14 metres to pick up the European junior title, ahead of Vladimir Sasimovich (73.24) of Russia and East German Raymond Hecht (72.78). In 1988, Backley won the silver medal at the 1988 World Junior Championships. He also broke the world junior record that year.
1990–1993: World records
In July 1990, Backley set a world record of 89.58m in Stockholm, Sweden. The record was then bettered by the Czech thrower Jan Železný a few weeks later, but Backley then regained the record with a throw 90.98m at Crystal Palace, London, to end the year as the world record holder. Finland's Seppo Räty then bettered the record in 1991. The records set by Železný and Räty, as well as Backley's 90.98m throw, had all been made using new 'Nemeth' javelins, however in August 1991 the IAAF declared this type of javelin illegal and all records set using them were retrospectively deleted. As a consequence, the world record reverted to the 89.58m mark that Backley had set in 1990. Backley then set another world record of 91.46m in January 1992 in New Zealand, a record which stood until 1993, when it was bettered by Železný.
Backley has been a regular commentator for the BBC, working on athletics events. At the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, he commentated for BBC Radio 5 Live. At the Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, Backley was the corporation's main field athletics commentator on television. He also worked commentated on the television coverage of the Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
In August 2014, Backley was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's independence referendum.
International competitions
{|
|-
!colspan="5"|Representing and
|-
|1987
|European Junior Championships
|Birmingham, United Kingdom
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|75.14 m
|-
|1988
|World Junior Championships
|Sudbury, Canada
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|75.40 m
|-
|rowspan=2|1989
|Universiade
|Duisburg, West Germany
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|85.60 m
|-
|World Cup
|Barcelona, Spain
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|85.90 m
|-
|rowspan=2|1990
|Commonwealth Games
|Auckland, New Zealand
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|86.02 m
|-
|European Championships
|Split, Yugoslavia
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|87.30 m
|-
|rowspan=2|1991
|Universiade
|Sheffield, United Kingdom
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|87.42 m
|-
|World Championships
|Tokyo, Japan
|15th (q)
|78.24 m
|-
|1992
|Olympic Games
|Barcelona, Spain
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|83.38 m
|-
|1993
|World Championships
|Stuttgart, Germany
|4th
|81.80 m
|-
|rowspan=3|1994
|Commonwealth Games
|Victoria, Canada
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|82.74 m
|-
|European Championships
|Helsinki, Finland
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|85.20 m
|-
|World Cup
|London, United Kingdom
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|85.02 m
|-
|1995
|World Championships
|Gothenburg, Sweden
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|86.30 m
|-
|1996
|Olympic Games
|Atlanta, United States
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|87.44 m
|-
|1997
|World Championships
|Athens, Greece
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|86.80 m
|-
|rowspan=3|1998
|European Championships
|Budapest, Hungary
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|89.72 m
|-
|World Cup
|Johannesburg, South Africa
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|88.71 m
|-
|Commonwealth Games
|Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|87.38 m
|-
|1999
|World Championships
|Seville, Spain
|8th
|83.84 m
|-
|2000
|Olympic Games
|Sydney, Australia
|bgcolor=silver|2nd
|89.85 m
|-
|rowspan=2|2001
|World Championships
|Edmonton, Canada
|14th (h)
|81.50 m
|-
|Goodwill Games
|Brisbane, Australia
|4th
|83.34 m
|-
|rowspan=3|2002
|Commonwealth Games
|Manchester, United Kingdom
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|86.81 m
|-
|European Championships
|Munich, Germany
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|88.54 m
|-
|World Cup
|Madrid, Spain
|4th
|79.39 m
|-
|2003
|World Championships
|Paris, France
|9th
|80.13 m
|-
|2004
|Olympic Games
|Athens, Greece
|4th
|84.13 m
|}
Seasonal bests by year
World Record and / or 90m+ in bold.
See also
- Lists of Olympic medalists
- List of Olympic medalists in athletics (men)
References
External links
- . NYT. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
- Steve Backley Profile by MTC Talent Management