Thomas Alan Petranoff (born April 8, 1958) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw.

He held the world record (old implement javelin) from May 1983 to July 1984; his 99.72 m (327 ft) throw was almost the length of an American football field (360 feet (110 meters).

Petranoff's world record added precisely three meters to the previous global standard of 96.72 m, set in 1980 by Hungary's Ferenc Paragi.

Propelled by the need to shorten distances and the then frequent flat or ambiguous landings (which resulted in many controversial official judgements), a change to a new design finally took effect in April 1986.

The world record holder with the turbo javelin is Breaux Greer of the U.S.A. Petranoff now lives in California; he has coached for institutions such as Boston University.