Place of residence: Oslo, Norway
Coach: Åsmund Martinsen
Former coach: Tomm Thorkildsen
He is a son of Tomm Thorkildsen and Bente Thorkildsen (née Amundsen) and has an older brother Christian.
His father was a former javelin thrower himself, while his mother was a national champion in the 100m Hurdles.
He took his secondary education at Kristiansand Cathedral School.
Andreas Thorkildsen is the first male javelin thrower in history to be European champion, World champion and Olympic champion as well.
He started javelin throwing at the age of 11 and was coached by his father until 2001 when he moved to Oslo.
He was a successful junior thrower and won silver medals at the World Junior Championships in 2000 and at the European Junior Championships in 2001 respectively.He set the World Junior Record in 2001 (83.87m).
Ever since 2004 when he surprisingly won the Olympic gold medal in Athens, he has been one of the top throwers in the world winning several further titles and medals.
“Some days are his, some days are mine,” he said, when asked about his rivalry with Tero Pitkämäki of Finland. Their Beijing and Berlin days certainly belonged to the Norwegian…
Thorkildsen is a man of few words. He likes watching television and playing Xbox 360. In an interview with spikesmag.com he was quoted to say that his greatest moment of his life was when he won the Olympic title in Athens and that the last time he cried was when he was born.
He also said that the best tip anyone has ever given him was: “Don’t eat yellow snow...”