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British javelin thrower (born 1969)

Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a firm fixture in the British national athletics team. He won four gold medals at the European Championships, three Commonwealth Games gold medals, two silvers and a bronze at the Olympic Games, and two silvers at the World Championships. Currently, he is an occasional commentator for athletics competitions, especially the field events.

Backley was educated at Hurst Primary School, Bexley, and later at Bexley and Erith Technical High School for Boys (now Beths Grammar School) in his teens. He was a member of the South East London based Cambridge Harriers Athletics club, and competed for Bexley in the London Youth Games. He enrolled at Loughborough University in October 1988 to study for a BSc Honours degree in physical education, sports science and recreation management. Although he completed his first year there and remained a student until 2002, the time he dedicated to the javelin prevented him from completing his studies. However, on 16 December 2002 Loughborough University honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Technology honoris causa. Backley's first significant title, was won in 1987 when he threw 75.14 metres to pick up the European junior title, ahead of Vladimir Sasimovich (73.24) of Russia and East German Raymond Hecht (72.78). In 1988, Backley won the silver medal at the 1988 World Junior Championships. He also broke the world junior record that year.

In July 1990, Backley set a world record of 89.58m in Stockholm, Sweden. The record was then bettered by the Czech thrower Jan Železný a few weeks later, but Backley then regained the record with a throw 90.98m at Crystal Palace, London, to end the year as the world record holder. Finland's Seppo Räty then bettered the record in 1991. The records set by Železný and Räty, as well as Backley's 90.98m throw, had all been made using new 'Nemeth' javelins, however in August 1991 the IAAF declared this type of javelin illegal and all records set using them were retrospectively deleted. As a consequence, the world record reverted to the 89.58m mark that Backley had set in 1990. Backley then set another world record of 91.46m in January 1992 in New Zealand, a record which stood until 1993, when it was bettered by Železný. In 2012 he joined the BBC athletics commentary team for the London Olympic Games, and has commentated at various events for them since. He is the main commentator for field events. In August 2014, Backley was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.

Representing and 1987European Junior ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom1st75.14 m1988World Junior ChampionshipsSudbury, Canada2nd75.40 m1989UniversiadeDuisburg, West Germany1st85.60 mWorld CupBarcelona, Spain1st85.90 m1990Commonwealth GamesAuckland, New Zealand1st86.02 mEuropean ChampionshipsSplit, Yugoslavia1st87.30 m1991UniversiadeSheffield, United Kingdom1st87.42 mWorld ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan15th (q)78.24 m1992Olympic GamesBarcelona, Spain3rd83.38 m1993World ChampionshipsStuttgart, Germany4th81.80 m1994Commonwealth GamesVictoria, Canada1st82.74 mEuropean ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland1st85.20 mWorld CupLondon, United Kingdom1st85.02 m1995World ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden2nd86.30 m1996Olympic GamesAtlanta, United States2nd87.44 m1997World ChampionshipsAthens, Greece2nd86.80 m1998European ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary1st89.72 mWorld CupJohannesburg, South Africa1st88.71 mCommonwealth GamesKuala Lumpur, Malaysia2nd87.38 m1999World ChampionshipsSeville, Spain8th83.84 m2000Olympic GamesSydney, Australia2nd89.85 m2001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada14th (h)81.50 mGoodwill GamesBrisbane, Australia4th83.34 m2002Commonwealth GamesManchester, United Kingdom1st86.81 mEuropean ChampionshipsMunich, Germany1st88.54 mWorld CupMadrid, Spain4th79.39 m2003World ChampionshipsParis, France9th80.13 m2004Olympic GamesAthens, Greece4th84.13 m

World Record and / or 90m+ in bold.