Vintage Athletes - Part 51

 Javelin

Throwing the javelin was an ancient Olympic sport, but it was part of the pentathlon, not a separate event.  The decoration on this Greek amphora, c. 500-490 BC, shows pentathletes, including a javelin thrower.  By the way, this swastika is not connected to the Nazis, of course.  It's an ancient symbol going back thousands of years.

More ancient Greek pottery at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, showing javelin throwers.

Nowadays, the javelin throw is a separate track and field event.  This statue of a javelin thrower was made by Karl Mobius in 1910.

Here's a rear view of the Karl Mobius statue.

German photographer Gerhard Riebicke took this photo of a javelin thrower, dated from the 1920s.

He also photographed the thrower from the rear, dated 1932.  Obviously, it was taken at the same time as the previous photo, so they are either both from the 1920s or both from 1932.  I got this photo from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!

And here's another Riebicke photo of javelin throwers from 1928.  Riebicke is known for documenting the Freikörperkultur (free body culture, or FKK) movement in Germany.  FKK advocated nudity in the open air as healthful.

This photo of a javelin thrower in the original Olympic stadium in Greece, c. 1930, is by Greek photographer Elli Sougioultzoglou-Seraidari, who called herself Nelly's.  Not Nelly, but Nelly's.  I also got this photo from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!

Finally, here's a clip that we've seen before from Leni Riefenstahl's 1938 film Olympia, showing German decathlon champion Erwin Huber throwing a javelin wearing only a posing strap.  The film, which glorified the 1936 "Nazi Olympics" held in Berlin, Germany, has been called both a cinematic technical masterpiece and a masterpiece of Nazi propaganda.