Thorkildsen has developed a well-deserved reputation for finding his form on the big occasion and in Beijing he sent the spear out to a new Olympic record of 90.57 metres, finishing nearly four metres clear of his nearest rival as he retained the title he won in Athens in 2004.

 

The 26-year-old said: "To have the chance to throw in an Olympic final when one is feeling just so incredibly good is absolutely fantastic.

 

"I have only had this feeling two to three times before.

 

"It has been a strange season, but I knew I could get the distance. I was doing big distances in practice but not in competition.

 

"I was just fortunate that this was the right time and place to put it all together."

 

Thorkildsen is the second successive javelin thrower to win the honour of being the male Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year, coming after his friendly rival Finland's Tero Pitkämäki took the award 12 months ago.

 

His winning throw in Beijing, in still conditions which were far-from-ideal for long distances, came in the fifth round, but Thorkildsen dominated the competition from the outset.

 

The Oslo-based thrower, although he was born in Kristiansand which is 300 kilometres away from the Norwegian capital, took the lead with 84.72m in the first round.

 

He improved with his following two throws to 85.91m and 87.93m before unleashing his massive effort with his penultimate attempt.

 

He cemented his position as the best thrower in  the world this year with a throw of 90.28m at the ÅF Golden League meeting in Zurich.

 

No other thrower in the world this year had gone over the 90-metre barrier.

 

The season was to end on a slightly downbeat note for Thorkildsen as a slight groin injury restricted him from throwing at his best in his final two meetings of the season, the ÅF Golden League meeting in Brussels and the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart - where he finished third and second respectively - but nothing was going to take the shine off his gold medal in Beijing.

 

Thorkildsen believes that, despite his two Olympic gold medals and a victory at the 2006 European Athletics Championships, he is still capable of improving.

 

One factor in his confidence that the best is yet to come is that his coach, Åsmund Martinsen, will now be devoting himself entirely to Thorkildsen's ambition of equalling the feat of the Zelezny whose Olympic record he erased in Beijing, and winning at three consecutive Games.

 

Martinsen has been Thorkildsen's mentor since he moved to Oslo in 2001.

 

The pair have always worked closely together but the relationship has been on a part-time basis until now because Martinsen was also employed as a teacher.

 

However, Martinsen announced two weeks ago that he was going to devote himself entirely to working with the thrower.

 

He said: "I've been working with Åsmund since I was 17-years-old but It'll be great to be working 100 per cent with him.

 

"I think I'll make even greater steps forward now and should be throwing even further on a regular basis by the time London plays host to the Olympics."

 

Britain has won this five times since it was introduced in 1993, including twice by triple Jonathan Edwards in 1995 and 1998.

 

Other British winners were Linford Christie in 1993, Colin Jackson in 1994 and Dwain Chambers in 2002, although he subsequently admitted that he was taking banned performance-enhancing drugs at the time.

 

This year only one Briton was voted among the top 20, Christian Malcolm, who finished fifth in the Olympic 200m final.

 

Surprisingly, there is no place for triple jumper Phillips Idowu, who won the world indoor title and finished second in the Olympics.