Boden Dominated Javelin, Set World Record

It was just March, but 1990 was already being hailed as the “Year of the Javelin.”

Patrik Boden of Texas was the biggest reason, especially after heaving the implement for a shocking world record of 89.10m (292-4) on March 24. That was more than 20 feet farther than he had ever thrown before – his week-old collegiate record of 82.78m (271-9).

While the temperature was in the 40s, everything else was perfect for Boden’s opening throw – particularly the strong northerly wind, coming off of Boden’s right shoulder as he threw. Only about two dozen people were on hand to watch the javelin, part of a quadrangular meet with the long throws taking place at Clark Field outside of Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

“I really can’t believe it happened,” Boden told L. Scott Hainline of the Austin American-Statesman. “I thought I could throw well, but 290 feet? I haven’t realized what I’ve done yet, it really hasn’t hit me.”

“It will be hard to repeat this throw,” said Boden, who added the second-longest throw in collegiate history at 83.54m (274-1) in the third round. Two weeks later he won the Texas Relays at 83.56m (274-2) and owned college’s three longest throws for the next 27 years, with the 292-4 lasting to this day as the collegiate record.

Boden, who became a hero in his native Sweden, never lost a collegiate meet during his three-year career with the Longhorns, and that included three consecutive titles at the NCAA Championships from 1989 to 1991. His first NCAA title came by the smallest margin of victory in meet history at 13 cm (5 inches) and the last by the then-largest margin of 7.34m (24-1), which Anderson Peters of Mississippi State eclipsed in 2019 with a winning margin of 8.19m (26-11).

Texas had become a haven for javelin throwers, winning seven NCAA titles in a nine-year span (Einar Vilhjalmsson in 1983-84 and Dag Wennlund in 1986-87 before Boden’s trio). In fact, Boden, UT throwing coach Mike Sanders and three other javelin throwers were featured on the cover of the Longhorns’ 1990 media guide with the title, “The Javelin Capital of Collegiate Track and Field.”

Boden’s world record was the last one set outdoors by a collegian in any event. Two months later, he commented to Randy Riggs of the Austin American-Statesman, “I hope people understand you can’t throw that far every meet. But I don’t think they do understand, at least not in this country. I throw 274 at the Relays, my second-best throw ever, and people ask me what went wrong and why I didn’t throw better. They don’t understand how perfect conditions have to be to even consider going for a world record.”