University of Tennessee Athletics
Former UT Javelin NCAA Champion Phil Olsen Passes Away
March 24, 2020 | Track & Field
Former Tennessee track & field All-American, NCAA Champion and Olympian Phil Olsen passed away on March 15. He was 63.
Olsen was a four-time All-American javelin thrower at Tennessee, taking home the NCAA title with his 83.26-meter (273-2) throw at the 1976 national championships in Philadelphia. Later that summer, he represented Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he placed 11th overall at just 19 years of age.
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A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Olsen was considered one of the strongest throwing arms across any sport in Canadian history. According to a report by The Times Colonist, he once wowed a Tennessee football crowd at Neyland Stadium by throwing a football 100 yards in a half-time demonstration.
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Olsen was an 11-time Canadian national champion in the javelin and won gold at the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games. Among his fondest memories was Queen Elizabeth presenting him with his gold medal in Edmonton and, while touching his arm, saying: "Good job, Master Olsen. You represented your country so well."
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Olsen was primed for an Olympic medal as the No. 3-ranked javelin thrower in the world in 1980, but Canada's boycott of the Moscow games prevented him from competing that summer. Hampered by a shoulder injury, Olsen was also forced to miss the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He officially retired from the sport of track & field in 1985.
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In 1994, a panel of Canadian sports writers named Olsen the greatest javelin thrower in Canadian history. He was an inaugural inductee into his hometown's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Olsen was a four-time All-American javelin thrower at Tennessee, taking home the NCAA title with his 83.26-meter (273-2) throw at the 1976 national championships in Philadelphia. Later that summer, he represented Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he placed 11th overall at just 19 years of age.
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A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Olsen was considered one of the strongest throwing arms across any sport in Canadian history. According to a report by The Times Colonist, he once wowed a Tennessee football crowd at Neyland Stadium by throwing a football 100 yards in a half-time demonstration.
Â
Olsen was an 11-time Canadian national champion in the javelin and won gold at the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games. Among his fondest memories was Queen Elizabeth presenting him with his gold medal in Edmonton and, while touching his arm, saying: "Good job, Master Olsen. You represented your country so well."
Â
Olsen was primed for an Olympic medal as the No. 3-ranked javelin thrower in the world in 1980, but Canada's boycott of the Moscow games prevented him from competing that summer. Hampered by a shoulder injury, Olsen was also forced to miss the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He officially retired from the sport of track & field in 1985.
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In 1994, a panel of Canadian sports writers named Olsen the greatest javelin thrower in Canadian history. He was an inaugural inductee into his hometown's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
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