Liu wins China's first Olympic javelin gold

The first throw was all Liu Shiying needed to secure China’s first Olympic javelin gold medal.

Liu unleashed a season’s best 66.34m in the opening round, an effort that stood up the rest of the way in Friday night’s final, good enough to make her the Tokyo Games champion.

It was China’s first javelin medal of any kind at the Olympics, and the first for an Asian country.

“It means a lot to me and my country,” the 27-year-old said. “2020 was a very difficult year for me because of injury and the pandemic.”

World-leader and title favourite Maria Andrejczyk of Poland took silver with a throw of 64.61m, while world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia claimed bronze with a season’s best 64.56m on her sixth and final effort.

Liu won silver at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, but was only the sixth best qualifier coming into the Olympic final with a best of 61.95m in the first round.

Liu, whose only other valid throw on Friday was a third-round effort of 63.40m, won China’s second athletics gold in Tokyo after Gong Lijiao claimed the women’s shot put title last Sunday.

Barber, 29, became the second Australian woman to win an Olympic medal in the event after Louise Currey took silver in 1996. Barber’s best effort was exactly two meters short of the throw that gave her the world title in 2019.

“I never stopped fighting for the gold but tonight I'm so proud to come away with the bronze after some really challenging times this year,” she said. “I threw a season's best out there, so I gave it everything I had."

The winners of the past three Olympic javelin titles – defending champion Sara Kolak and two-time champion Barbora Spotakova – failed to make the final.

Looking at the bigger picture, Barber said she hoped the Tokyo Games – postponed a year by the Covid-19 pandemic – would deliver a lasting message.

"These Olympics have been amazing,” she said. “We've inspired people which is exactly what we want to do with the Olympic Games. We need to keep pushing forward now, to keep going, to keep bringing sport to the people."

Steve Wilson for World Athletics