Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's javelin throw

Women's javelin throw at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	16–18 August 2016
Competitors	31 from 19 nations
Winning distance	66.18 m NR
Medalists
Sara Kolak  Croatia Sunette Viljoen  South Africa Barbora Špotáková  Czech Republic
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Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Qualification
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
5000 m	men	women
10,000 m	men	women
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men	women
3000 m steeplechase	men	women
4 × 100 m relay	men	women
4 × 400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men	women
20 km walk	men	women
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men	women
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men	women
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men	women
Combined events
Heptathlon		women
Decathlon	men
v t e

The women's javelin throw competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium on 16–18 August.^[1] Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance progressed to the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.

In the qualifying round, Maria Andrejczyk threw a Polish national record 67.11m, moving her to the # 16 thrower of all time. Of course, several women on that same list also qualified for the final, including world record holder and 2016 non-Russian world leader Barbora Špotáková. Vera Rebrik had thrown 67.30 in February, but Russia was on suspension.

Flor Ruiz started the final round with a 61.54 m. Two throws later Tatsiana Khaladovich raised the stakes to 62.68 m. Two throws later Andrejczyk displaced Ruiz with a 61.92. Sunette Viljoen moved on top with a 64.92 m. Near the top of the second round, Kathryn Mitchell almost matched it with a 64.36 to move into silver position. 2015 World silver medalist Lü Huihui moved into bronze position with a 63.50 m that lasted until the end of the round when two-time defending champion Špotáková moved into the bronze position with a 63.73 m. Khaladovich came back in the third round with a 64.60 m to move into the silver spot. After the field dropped off returning bronze medalist Linda Stahl, 21 year old Sara Kolak threw 66.18 m (217 ft 1 in) to rocket from sixth to first. As second thrower in the fifth round, Andrejczyk threw 64.78 m to leapfrog from seventh to bronze medal position. That only lasted a few throwers until Špotáková threw 2 cm further.

For Kolak, whose previous medal collection included the bronze medal from the 2016 European Championships, it was a new Croatian National Record, beating the 64.30 m she set in qualifying, which beat the 63.50 she threw winning the European bronze. Prior to 2016, her best was still the national record, but was a 57.79 from 2013, improving 8.39 m (27 ft 6 in) in just 5 months. Kolak moved into the #20 position on the all-time list.

The following evening the medals were presented by Li Lingwei, IOC member, China and Alberto Juantorena, Vice President of the IAAF.

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3).

Prior to the competition^[update], the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading mark were as follows:

World record	Barbora Špotáková (CZE)	72.28 m	Stuttgart, Germany	13 September 2008
Olympic record	Osleidys Menéndez (CUB)	71.53 m	Athens, Greece	27 August 2004
World leading	Vera Rebrik (RUS)	67.30 m	Sochi, Russia	19 February 2016

The following national records were established during the competition:

Country	Athlete	Round	Distance	Notes
Poland	Maria Andrejczyk (POL)	Qualifying	67.11 m
Croatia	Sara Kolak (CRO)	Qualifying	64.30 m
		Final	66.18 m

Qualification rule: qualification standard 63.00m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	Result	Notes
1	B	Maria Andrejczyk	Poland	67.11			67.11	Q, NR
2	B	Barbora Špotáková	Czech Republic	62.50	64.65		64.65	Q
3	A	Sara Kolak	Croatia	55.68	55.86	64.30	64.30	Q, NR
4	B	Linda Stahl	Germany	63.95			63.95	Q
5	A	Tatsiana Khaladovich	Belarus	63.78			63.78	Q
6	A	Sunette Viljoen	South Africa	63.54			63.54	Q
7	A	Lü Huihui	China	63.28			63.28	Q
8	B	Madara Palameika	Latvia	63.03			63.03	Q
9	A	Flor Ruiz	Colombia	62.32	59.89	59.99	62.32	q
10	A	Christina Obergföll	Germany	57.75	62.18	x	62.18	q
11	A	Christin Hussong	Germany	56.19	55.58	62.17	62.17	q
12	B	Kathryn Mitchell	Australia	x	60.05	61.63	61.63	q
13	B	Kara Winger	United States	61.02	57.34	60.54	61.02
14	A	Sinta Ozoliņa-Kovala	Latvia	60.92	58.08	x	60.92
15	B	Li Lingwei	China	60.91	59.30	57.87	60.91
16	A	Elizabeth Gleadle	Canada	59.18	60.28	58.74	60.28
17	B	Kateryna Derun	Ukraine	60.02	54.86	x	60.02
18	A	Martina Ratej	Slovenia	59.76	58.15	x	59.76
19	A	Hanna Hatsko-Fedusova	Ukraine	58.90	x	58.38	58.90
20	B	Liina Laasma	Estonia	58.06	56.21	56.62	58.06
21	B	Yuki Ebihara	Japan	53.75	55.89	57.68	57.68
22	A	Kim Mickle	Australia	57.20	x	55.93	57.20
23	A	Liu Shiying	China	57.16	55.60	x	57.16
24	B	Mathilde Andraud	France	56.61	56.01	56.13	56.61
25	A	Maggie Malone	United States	56.47	x	46.87	56.47
26	B	Tatsiana Korzh	Belarus	49.41	53.54	56.16	56.16
27	A	Brittany Borman	United States	54.15	56.04	52.73	56.04
28	B	Kelsey-Lee Roberts	Australia	44.75	55.04	55.25	55.25
29	A	Yulenmis Aguilar	Cuba	54.84	x	54.94	54.94
30	B	Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir	Iceland	x	54.92	x	54.92
31	B	Sanni Utriainen	Finland	53.42	x	52.45	53.42

Rank	Athlete	Nationality	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5	#6	Result	Notes
	Sara Kolak	Croatia	60.89	62.95	63.00	66.18	x	59.42	66.18	NR
	Sunette Viljoen	South Africa	64.92	61.04	x	63.00	x	x	64.92
	Barbora Špotáková	Czech Republic	60.16	63.73	x	61.25	64.80	x	64.80
4	Maria Andrejczyk	Poland	61.92	59.25	60.23	59.31	64.78	63.69	64.78
5	Tatsiana Khaladovich	Belarus	62.68	60.24	64.60	60.49	63.52	64.24	64.60
6	Kathryn Mitchell	Australia	x	64.36	x	x	62.20	63.02	64.36
7	Lü Huihui	China	60.32	63.50	59.56	64.04	x	56.96	64.04	SB
8	Christina Obergföll	Germany	60.17	62.28	x	x	x	62.92	62.92
9	Flor Ruiz	Colombia	61.54	58.46	59.61	did not advance			61.54
10	Madara Palameika	Latvia	x	x	60.14	did not advance			60.14
11	Linda Stahl	Germany	58.48	x	59.71	did not advance			59.71
12	Christin Hussong	Germany	54.99	54.47	57.70	did not advance			57.70