2008 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Javelin Throw (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Javelin throw
gender	Women
place	Beijing National Stadium
Attendees	54 athletes from 40 countries
Competition phase	19./21. August 2008
Medalist
gold	Barbora Špotáková ( CZE )
silver	Christina Obergföll ( GER )
bronze	Goldie Sayers ( GBR )

The javelin throw at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was played on August 19 and 21, 2008. 54 athletes took part.

Olympic champion was Barbora Špotáková from the Czech Republic. The German Christina Obergföll won the silver medal, bronze went to the British Goldie Sayers .

Current titleholders

Olympic Champion 2004	Osleidys Menéndez ( Cuba )	71.53 m	Athens 2004
World Champion 2007	Barbora Špotáková ( Czech Republic )	67.07 m	Osaka 2007
European Champion 2006	Steffi Nerius ( Germany )	65.82 m	Gothenburg 2006
Pan American Champion 2007	Osleidys Menéndez ( Cuba )	62.34 m	Rio de Janeiro 2007
2008 Central American and Caribbean Champion	Laverne Eve ( Bahamas )	56.36 m	Cali 2008
South American Champion 2007	Alessandra Resende ( Brazil )	57.75 m	São Paulo 2007
Asian Champion 2007	Buoban Pamang ( Thailand )	58.35 m	Amman 2007
Africa Champion 2008	Sunette Viljoen ( South Africa )	55.17 m	Addis Ababa 2008
Oceania Champion 2008	Milika Tuivanuavou ( Fiji )	39.36 m	Saipan 2008

Existing records

World record	71.70 m	Osleidys Menéndez ( Cuba )	Helsinki , Finland	August 14, 2005
Olympic record	71.53 m		Athens Final , Greece	August 25, 2004

doping

Like all pushing and throwing disciplines for women at these games, the javelin throw also had its doping case . The Russian Marija Abakumowa - initially second - was proven to have taken Turinabol during follow-up checks on her doping test . The IOC then decided in September 2016 to withdraw her silver medal. The athletes placed after her in the final each moved up one place in the official ranking.

Numerous athletes were affected by this fraud. The South African Justine Robbeson, who was thirteenth in the qualification, would have been eligible for the final after the pronounced disqualification. Of course, more than eight years after the competition was held, that was no longer possible. The British Goldie Sayers, who came up as a medalist, was also disadvantaged because she had to assume for a long time that she had assumed no medals. Finally, the Spaniard Mercedes Chilla, who initially came ninth in the final, would have allowed three more attempts at the final, which might have brought her further forward.

qualification

The qualification was carried out in two groups. The qualification distance for direct entry into the final was 61.50 m. Since only eight athletes reached this distance (highlighted in light blue), the final field was filled with the next best athletes from both groups to twelve participants (highlighted in light green). Finally, 60.13 m had to be achieved to take part. However, since the doping offender mentioned above also exceeded the qualification distance, eleven throwers were ultimately included in the ranking of the final.

Group A

The Greek Savva Lika achieved 59.11 m as eighth in her qualifying group and was eliminated

The South African Sunette Viljoen does not reach the final with her 53.58 m

August 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m.

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Barbora Špotáková	Czech Republic	67.69 m	-	-	67.69 m
2	Steffi Nerius	Germany	59.15 m	59.74 m	63.94 m	63.94 m
3	Mercedes Chilla	Spain	56.98 m	61.81 m	-	61.81 m
4th	Zhang Li	People's Republic of China	58.30 m	61.77 m	-	61.77 m
5	Osleidys Menéndez	Cuba	60.51 m	x	60.41 m	60.51 m
6th	Sinta Ozoliņa	Latvia	60.13 m	x	58.62 m	60.13 m	NO
7th	Urszula Piwnicka	Poland	51.33 m	52.99 m	59.28 m	59.28 m
8th	Savva Lika	Greece	56.44 m	58.59 m	59.11 m	59.11 m
9	Wera Rebrik	Ukraine	55.77 m	57.12 m	59.05 m	59.05 m
10	Chang Chunfeng	People's Republic of China	58.42 m	x	x	58.42 m
11	Nikolett Szabó	Hungary	56.98 m	57.15 m	x	57.15 m
12	Natallia Shymchuk	Belarus	55.56 m	57.11 m	x	57.11 m
13	Sílvia Cruz	Portugal	54.65 m	57.06 m	x	57.06 m
14th	Alessandra Resende	Brazil	54.05 m	56.53 m	54.32 m	56.53 m
15th	Inga Stasiulionytė	Lithuania	55.66 m	x	55.34 m	55.66 m
16	Sunette Viljoen	South Africa	53.14 m	55.58 m	53.82 m	55.58 m
17th	Anastasiya Svechnikova	Uzbekistan	55.31 m	x	48.71 m	55.31 m
18th	Martina Ratej	Slovenia	55.30 m	51.56 m	53.24 m	55.30 m
19th	Zuleima Araméndiz	Colombia	51.30 m	54.71 m	x	54.71 m
20th	Monica Stoian	Romania	x	54.56 m	x	54.56 m
21st	Kara Patterson	United States	54.30 m	50.35 m	54.39 m	54.39 m
22nd	Nadeeka Lakmali	Sri Lanka	x	53.48 m	54.28 m	54.28 m
23	Christina Scherwin	Denmark	53.95 m	x	x	53.95 m
24	Kim Kyung-ae	South Korea	51.46 m	48.00 m	53.13 m	53.13 m
25th	María González	Venezuela	48.37 m	50.51 m	42.32 m	50.51 m
ogV	Zahra Bani	Italy	x	x	x		without space
DOP	Maria Abakumova	Russia					in the final, later disqualified

Group B

The American Kim Kreiner is 55.13 m not enough for the final

48.59 m are not enough for the Icelander Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir to qualify for the final

August 19, 2008, 10:40 am

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Christina Obergföll	Germany	67.52 m	-	-	67.52 m
2	Goldie Sayers	Great Britain	60.79 m	62.99 m	-	62.99 m
3	Barbara Madejczyk	Poland	62.81 m	-	-	62.81 m
4th	Katharina Molitor	Germany	55.65 m	53.50 m	60.92 m	60.92 m
5	Felicia Țilea-Moldovan	Romania	53.25 m	55.89 m	60.81 m	60.81 m
6th	Justine Robbeson	South Africa	56.75 m	54.26 m	59.63 m	59.63 m
7th	Mikaela Ingberg	Finland	55.71 m	58.82 m	58.36 m	58.82 m
8th	Yanet Cruz	Cuba	58.06 m	57.15 m	57.03 m	58.06 m
9	Laverne Eve	Bahamas	55.22 m	57.36 m	55.15 m	57.36 m
10	Jarmila Klimešová	Czech Republic	52.18 m	57.25 m	x	57.25 m
11	Olha Ivankova	Ukraine	55.63 m	51.98 m	57.05 m	57.05 m
12	Moonika Aava	Estonia	x	56.94 m	x	56.94 m
13	Buoban Pamang	Thailand	53.69 m	x	56.35 m	56.35 m
14th	Lindy Leveau-Agricole	Seychelles	56.32 m	55.90 m	50.74 m	56.32 m
15th	Erma-Gene Evans	St. Lucia	46.79 m	54.60 m	56.27 m	56.27 m
16	Maryna Nowik	Belarus	56.10 m	x	53.48 m	56.10 m
17th	Olivia McKoy	Jamaica	55.51 m	x	55.51 m	55.51 m
18th	Tetjana Lyachowytsch	Ukraine	55.50 m	x	53.59 m	55.50 m
19th	Kim Kreiner	United States	55.13 m	53.81 m	53.48 m	55.13 m
20th	Song Dan	People's Republic of China	53.11 m	54.32 m	x	54.32 m
21st	Alexandra Tsisiou	Cyprus	53.24 m	x	47.18 m	53.24 m
22nd	Mariya Yakovenko	Russia	47.90 m	51.67 m	50.49 m	51.67 m
23	Serafina Akeli	Samoa	47.83 m	42.78 m	49.26 m	49.26 m
24	Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir	Iceland	x	x	48.59 m	48.59 m
25th	Leryn Franco	Paraguay	45.34 m	x	43.77 m	45.34 m
26th	Rumiana Karapetrova	Bulgaria	40.15 m	x	x	40.15 m
ogV	Tatyana Elaka	Serbia	x	x	x		without space

final

August 21, 2008, 7:20 pm

Eleven athletes had qualified for the final, seven of them by qualifying distance and another four by their placements. Three Germans and one participant each from China, Great Britain, Cuba, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Spain and the Czech Republic were represented. There was also the Russian Marija Abakumova, whose result was canceled in 2016 for doping abuse . Their performance is not taken into account in the following description of the final sequence.

There were four athletes who had stood out at the major championships in recent years and who were also the main favorites here in Beijing . These were the 2004 Olympic champion and 2005 world champion Osleidys Menéndez from Cuba, who also held the world record , the Czech Barbora Špotáková as world champion from 2007 and vice European champion from 2006 and the two German Steffi Nerius as Olympic runner-up from 2004 / European champion from 2006 / World Cup - third from 2005/2007 and Christina Obergföll as vice world champion from 2005/2007 / EM - fourth from 2006.

In the final, Špotáková achieved an excellent 69.22 m in her first attempt, which she clearly led. Obergföll was second with 66.13 m in front of the British Goldie Sayers - 65.75 m, Nerius - 64.05 m - and Menéndez - 63.35 m. The women's javelin was thus at a good level from the start, and Sayers had even set a British national record. There were no changes until the last round, although Špotáková again managed a very long throw with 67.04 m. Also in the sixth lap there were no more position shifts. But two athletes improved their widths again. Nerius threw the spear at 65.29 m and front runner Špotáková put the crown on this competition with 71.42 m. With that she achieved a new European record and missed Menéndez's world record by only 28 centimeters.

Barbora Špotáková was Olympic champion, Christina Obergföll won silver and thus the only medal for the German athletics team at these games. Goldie Sayers was awarded bronze for her national record. Fourth place went to Steffi Nerius in front of the not so strong Osleidys Menéndez. The Polish Barbara Madejczyk came in sixth, the third German thrower Katharina Molitor came in seventh ahead of the Spanish Mercedes Chilla.

Barbora Špotáková won the first gold medal for the Czech Republic in the women's javelin. Dana Zátopková that in 1952 in Helsinki gold and 1960 in Rome had won bronze, was launched even for Czechoslovakia.

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	4th attempt	5th attempt	6th attempt	Bottom line	annotation
1	Barbora Špotáková	Czech Republic	69.62 m	67.04 m	x	64.92 m	x	71.42 m	71.42 m	HE
2	Christina Obergföll	Germany	66.13 m	x	63.34 m	x	x	x	66.13 m
3	Goldie Sayers	Great Britain	65.75 m	59.40 m	62.92 m	59.72 m	65.03 m	56.83 m	65.75 m	NO
4th	Steffi Nerius	Germany	64.05 m	62.25 m	59.97 m	x	x	65.29 m	65.29 m
5	Osleidys Menéndez	Cuba	63.35 m	x	x	x	x	x	63.35 m
6th	Barbara Madejczyk	Poland	58.74 m	59.16 m	58.67 m	x	58.21 m	62.02 m	62.02 m
7th	Katharina Molitor	Germany	53.19 m	57.37 m	59.64 m	58.81 m	56.72 m	57.00 m	59.64 m
8th	Mercedes Chilla	Spain	x	57.94 m	58.13 m	not in the final of the eight best throwers			58.13 m	actually qualified for the final of the top 8
9	Zhang Li	People's Republic of China	54.69 m	x	56.14 m				56.14 m
10	Sinta Ozoliņa	Latvia	50.67 m	53.38 m	52.23 m				53.38 m
11	Felicia Țilea-Moldovan	Romania	53.04 m	x	52.80 m				53.04 m
DOP	Maria Abakumova	Russia								disqualified after eight years

• 

  Olympic champion Barbora Špotáková from the Czech Republic

• 

  Christina Obergföll wins with her silver medal the only athletics medal for Germany at these games

• 

  Bronze medalist Goldie Sayers from Great Britain

• 

  The German Steffi Nerius - here after her world championship title in 2009 - becomes Olympic champion

• 

  Barbara Madejczyk from Poland is sixth in the final

• 

  The German Katharina Molitor reached seventh place in the javelin final

• 

  Sinta Ozoliņa, who set a Latvian national record in qualifying, is in tenth place

• 

  Felicia Țilea-Moldovan from Romania comes in eleventh place

Web links

• SportsReference Javelin Women , accessed July 7, 2018
• Results on the IAAF website, accessed July 7, 2018
• Official Report of the XXVIIIth Olympiad, Results Athletics , English / French (PDF, 3054 KB), accessed on July 7, 2018

Video

• Athletics - Women's Javelin - Final - Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games , published August 22, 2008 on youtube.com, accessed July 7, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008 on athlecac.org, accessed on July 7, 2018
2. ↑ Campeonato Sudamericano de Atletismo 2007 on athlecac.org, accessed on July 7, 2018
3. ↑ 17th Asian Athletics Championship 2007 ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at athleticsasia.org (PDF, 417 KB), accessed July 7, 2018 
4. ↑ Oceania Area Championships - 25/06/2008 to 28/06/2008 on athletics-oceania.com (PDF, 130 KB), accessed on July 7, 2018
5. ↑ IAAF World Records, Javelin Throw Women , accessed on July 7, 2018
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Obergföll receives silver , Spiegel Online. September 13, 2016. Accessed July 7, 2018.