About Tom Petranoff
Thomas Alan Petranoff is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He held the world record from May 1983 to July 1984; his 99.72 m throw was almost the length of an American football field (360 feet). During his career, he was a silver medalist at the World Championships in 1983 and represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1988. He transferred to South Africa in the 1990s and was twice a winner at the African Championships. His personal best with the new implement javelin is 89.16 m. In the final years of his career, he returned to the United States and won a medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. Petranoff's world record added precisely three meters to the previous global standard of 96.72 m, set in 1980 by Hungary's Ferenc Paragi. This throw came after the changes had been officially proposed and (unlike Petranoff's record) was not a driving cause of the change. In 1984, Petranoff won the Superstars championship with a record score of 61 points. He held the world record (old implement javelin) from May 1983 to July 1984; his 99.72 m (327 ft) throw was almost the length of an American football field (360 feet (110 meters).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.