Backley’s Javelin Record Is Disallowed

SPLIT, Yugoslavia — Britain’s Steve Backley, the first man to throw a javelin more than 90 meters, found out Sunday that he still has not officially done so.

International officials have ruled that the controversial Nemeth javelin the 21-year-old Backley used when setting the world record of 90.98 meters (296 feets 6 inches) at Crystal Palace in London on July 20 is illegal.

The only consolation for Backley is that he will still be world record holder, because he had a throw of 89.58 meters (293-11) with a conventional javelin in Stockholm on July 2.

Backley keeps the record because Czech thrower Jan Zelezny’s world record of 89.66 meters (294-2), set in Oslo 12 days after Backley’s Stockholm effort, has also been ruled out because it was achieved with a Nemeth.

An International Amateur Athletic Federation official said Sunday that the IAAF Council would not ratify Zelezny’s and Backley’s records because the Nemeth javelin did not meet their specifications.

The Nemeth has caused controversy because it possesses a roughened surface which enables it to fly further. The IAAF Congress approved it in Barcelona last year, but the official said: “Since then, it has been modified and does not fall within the IAAF guidelines.”

World records are usually ratified at the start of the following year but the IAAF technical committee met here on Saturday and decided the two marks should not be submitted to the IAAF Council for approval.

Backley had only used the Nemeth, which is banned from the European Championships, as an experiment at Crystal Palace, but his big rival Zelezny uses it all the time.

Backley usually uses the Sandvik model, with which he broke the record in Stockholm.