Andrus Värnik (born 27 September 1977) is a retired Estonian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World Champion, having won gold in 2005. His personal best throw of 87.83 m, set in 2003, was the Estonian record for 15 years.
Career Värnik won his first international medal, a silver medal, in the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, throwing 85.17 m. The next year he finished sixth in the javelin contest at the Olympic Games with the result 83.25 m.
With 87.17 m he won a surprise gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, ahead of Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen, defending World Champion Sergey Makarov and home favorite Tero Pitkämäki.
Personal life In 2007, Värnik participated as a celebrity contestant on the second season of Tantsud tähtedega, an Estonian version of Strictly Come Dancing. His professional dancing partner was Kaisa Oja.
On 16 January 2010, Värnik was caught drunk driving in Tallinn. He was banned from driving for 4 months and fined 12,000 kroons.
Achievements Representing 1996World Junior ChampionshipsSydney, Australia23rd (q)56.94 m1999European U23 ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden14th63.04 m2000Olympic GamesSydney, Australia15th81.34 m 2002European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany21st75.66 m 2003World ChampionshipsParis, France 2nd85.17 m 2004Olympic GamesAthens Olympic Stadium, Greece6th83.25 m 2005World Championships Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland 1st87.17 m
Seasonal bests by year 2000 – 82.16 2001 – 80.83 2002 – 85.47 2003 – 87.83 2004 – 87.58 2005 – 87.19 2006 – 84.85 2007 – 75.96 2008 – 81.11 2009 – 82.00 2010 – 74.50 2011 – 76.20
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