Backley makes move to counter Czech mate

Ian Chadband13 April 2012

If he is weary of answering questions about how it feels to have had the misfortune of chucking a javelin at the same time that Jan Zelezny happened to be doing it just that little bit better, then Steve Backley is just too much of an old trouper to show it. Misfortune? He rather thinks it's been a privilege.

Nick Hancock and his mob on "They Think It's All Over" spent a whole programme flogging the joke at Backley's expense about the Czech's theft of all his possible golds down the years, and the big man from Kent played along with a smile. That's life, he shrugs. Nothing to beat himself up over.

He just goes about his business marvellously well, but if his pal with the bionic arm happens to keep proving that he is the finest thrower there ever was, then what can he do? "My journey in athletics has been a success," Backley reminds us, without feeling the need to slap down his medals - 11 in total, including three European and two Commonwealth golds - on the table to prove it.

Yet that journey has never reached its final destination mainly because of a Prague roadblock. The stark fact is that Backley would today be a two-time Olympic champion and former world champion if Zelezny, that wiry strong freak of nature, had not always somehow barrred his path.

You would think after all the heartbreaks, physical breakdowns and sacrifices en route, Backley might have long since turned round and driven off into the sunset. Yet, as he prepares for tonight's qualifying round at the world championships noting wryly that "Jan is here, says he's healthy, so, yes, he's dangerous", he still thinks he can find Eldorado at 32. "I believe in myself more now than ever," he says.

Perhaps it's a defence mechanism but Backley, who knows a thing or two about sports psychology having co-authored a book on the subject, is not about to bow to the suggestion that his career would be defined by anti-climax should he fail to win the global title that his excellence has so richly merited.

"A gold medal here would really put the icing on the cake but it's not something which will make me so distraught if I finish as an athlete without ever winning one," he says. "If people say I have under-achieved, I ask them what they do for a living and see if they are the best at their job.

"I haven't missed out - quite the opposite. Although I've got two Olympic and two World Championship silvers, I've also got three European golds which were won against the same competitors, including Zelezny, and, to people who know athletics, they equate to world titles."

Quite right, but, of course, his achievement pales alongside Zelezny's haul of three Olympic golds and two world titles. Their mutual respect is huge, developed in 47 competitions over the past 13 seasons. Zelezny always treats Backley, a man who has beaten him more than anyone else, 16 times in all, as his toughest adversary.

They've trained together, learned from each other and share modest, down-to-earth personalities, although the intense Czech's unshaven, unsmiling persona contrasts vividly with Backley's more clean-cut, gregarious nature. Zelezny lives and breathes his sport every moment, whereas Backley needs the occasional release in a pint or a round of golf.

Backley tells of the time during the 1995 season, when both were battling for the Grand Prix title around Europe while preparing for the world championships, how Zelezny, bogged down by injuries and looking even more morose than usual, approached him and said: "Steve, things don't look good. I'll probably win the Grand Prix but I think you'll win the world title." To which an astonished Backley responded: "Great. So where do I sign?" In the event, naturally, Zelezny won both.

The respect goes along with the first-hand knowledge of what agonies they've both been through in this murderous event. By rights, Zelezny should not be able to pick up a javelin any more, let alone hurl it, such have been the severity of the injuries brought on by the massive stresses his explosive, whiplash action always exerts on his back.

As long as 12 years ago, he needed an operation on a fractured vertebra, while three years ago, he finally gave up on his career after requiring surgery on his throwing shoulder. Each time, he returned, miraculously, better than ever. Backley has been no less inconvenienced by the strain of his profession, having had surgery on his shoulder and Achilles as well as countless injuries. He can still painfully recall the time when he couldn't even lift a toothbrush to clean his teeth. These two are true soldiers.

But Zelezny is the little General. When he arrived last week, the locals looked at his surprisingly slight 13-and-a-half stone frame and wondered how this shy, unshaven figure, who is dwarfed by some of his giant opponents like Backley, could possibly possess such a devastating natural throwing arm that, as a youngster, he knocked a handball goalkeeper unconscious with the sheer ferocity of one long shot.

Once, he tried out as a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves and forced hardened coaching staff into openmouthed astonishment when he picked up a ball and hurled it into a ball park fence some 275 feet distant. In Finland, javelin's spiritual home, they worship him, even if he has murdered their men so often that a Finnish internet company decided to sponsor him, shrugging: "If we can't beat him, sign him".

And now he's out to add another notch to the legend. Both he and Backley know it's far from a twohorse race - indeed, it was only three weeks ago at Crystal Palace after a previously poor campaign that Backley could be even considered a contender again when he suddenly summoned up his best throw for nine years, 90.81m - what with Finland's Aki Parviainen, the reigning champion and world leader this year (92.41m), and Greek silver medallist Kostas Gatsioudis among any one of nine genuine contenders.

Yet when Backley gazes towards the end of the road, once again he will surely be unable to look beyond his Czech mate, one of sport's miracles.

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