Jakub Vadlejch (; born 10 October 1990) is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a four-time Olympian for the Czech Republic, having competed in 2012, 2016,2020 and 2024 winning a silver medal in 2020. He also has represented his country six times at the World Championships in Athletics (2011, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023), winning the bronze medal in 2022 and 2023 and silver medal in 2017, and six times a competitor at the European Athletics Championships (2010, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024), winning the silver medal in 2022 and the gold medal in 2024. He also won the 2016 Diamond League title, 2017 Diamond League title, and the 2023 Diamond League Title.
Career Born in Prague, Vadlejch took part in international javelin competitions from a young age, reaching the finals at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics, 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics and the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships. His senior debut followed at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, where he threw in qualifying only. He competed in the javelin throw at the 2012 Summer Olympics and placed 25th with a mark of 77.61 metres. He was eliminated in the qualifying round at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, 2014 European Athletics Championships, and 2015 World Championships in Athletics.
Vadlejch had his breakthrough season in 2016. He reached the final at the 2016 Summer Olympics, taking eighth place, and took victory on the 2016 IAAF Diamond League circuit, with three wins and a personal best of in the process. At the 2017 World Championships he set his new personal best, , winning the silver medal.
2020 Tokyo Olympic He won the silver medal in the Men's Javelin throw event. He finished at the second spot behind India's Neeraj Chopra.Tokyo Olympics - Neeraj Chopra Makes History, Wins 1st Gold in Athletics and 2nd Individual Overall: Highlights News18
2024 In November 2024 he was declared for the forth consecutive time, Czech Athlete of the year. He came in first just before bronze javelin thrower medalist in Paris 2024, Nikola Ogrodníková.
International competitions Representing 2007World Youth ChampionshipsOstrava, Czech Republic12th65.63 m700 g javelin2008World Junior ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland10th68.79 m2009European Junior ChampionshipsNovi Sad, Serbia8th69.63 m2010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain16th (q)76.04 m2011European U23 ChampionshipsOstrava, Czech Republic –NMWorld ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea16th (q)80.08 m2012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom25th (q)77.61 m2014European ChampionshipsZürich, Switzerland20th (q)75.14 m2015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China20th (q)78.95 m2016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands9th78.12 mOlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil8th82.42 m2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom2nd89.73 m2018European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany8th80.64 m2019World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar5th82.19 m2021Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan2nd86.67 m2022World ChampionshipsEugene, Oregon3rd88.09 mEuropean ChampionshipsMunich, Germany2nd87.28 m2023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary3rd86.67 m2024European ChampionshipsRome, Italy1st88.65 mOlympic GamesParis, France4th88.50 m2025World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan11th78.71 m2026European ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom5th82.88 m
Circuit wins Diamond League Overall title: 2016, 2017, 2023 London Grand Prix: 2016 Meeting Areva: 2016 Weltklasse Zürich: 2016
Seasonal bests 2008 – 76.57 m 2009 – 81.95 m 2010 – 84.47 m 2011 – 84.08 m 2012 – 80.40 m 2013 – 75.85 m 2014 – 82.97 m 2015 – 86.21 m 2016 – 88.02 m 2017 – 89.73 m 2018 – 89.02 m 2019 – 85.78 m 2020 – 84.31 m 2021 – 86.67 m 2022 – 90.88 m 2023 – 89.51 m 2024 – 88.65 m
References