China&rsquo;s 16-year-old Yan Ziyi broke her own world U20 javelin record with a 64.83m* throw at the Throws Invitation Meeting 1 in Chengdu on Friday (28).
It is the third time that Yan has improved the world U20 record.
She first threw 64.28m as a 15-year-old in Hangzhou in April last year, improving both the ratified world U20 record of 63.86m set by Cuba&rsquo;s Yulenmis Aguilar in 2015 and the unratified 63.96m achieved by Elina Tzengko of Greece in 2020.
Yan then threw 64.41m in Quzhou in September and now she has added another 42cm to that mark with her performance in Chengdu.
Yan won the world U20 title in Lima last year and was then among the three athletes nominated for the 2024 World Athletics Women's Rising Star Award.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

China’s 16-year-old Yan Ziyi broke her own world U20 javelin record with a 64.83m* throw at the Throws Invitation Meeting 1 in Chengdu

Yan throws world U20 javelin record in Chengdu

A look back at the key moments of 2024 in the throwing disciplines

2024 review: throws

In celebration of the birthday of India&rsquo;s Neeraj Chopra &ndash; one of three Paris Olympic medallists who recently <a href="https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/mowa-inductions-2024-mahuchikh-lafond-chopra" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated their 2024 Games competition clothing to the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA)</a>, we recount his recent decision to appoint a new coach in search of the so far elusive 90-metre barrier.
In the qualifying round for the men&rsquo;s javelin at the 2024 Olympic Games, Chopra propelled himself a little nearer towards the all-time greatest in his event.
With a throw of 89.34m, the Indian golden boy who honed his technique by studying Jan Zelezny on YouTube was just five centimetres shy of the best ever mark in Olympic qualifying, set by the great Czech thrower in Sydney in 2000.
Chopra, the defending Olympic champion and holder of the world title, was on course to follow in the spear-marks of his boyhood hero as a multiple winner of the Olympic men&rsquo;s javelin crown.
Or so it seemed&hellip; until Arshad Nadeem unleashed his mighty bolt from the blue when it came to the final in the Stade de France.
Wearing the Indian team t-shirt which he kindly chose to donate to the <a href="https://www.tinyurl.com/visitMOWA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MOWA</a>, Chopra must have felt like Nadeem&rsquo;s second-round throw had landed smack in his solar plexus.
The world silver medallist from Pakistan unleashed a monster effort of 92.97m &ndash; a huge improvement on the 90.18m that earned him Commonwealth gold in Birmingham in 2022, and on Andreas Thorkildsen&rsquo;s 2008 Olympic record of 90.57m.
Incongruously, Chopra had never before ventured beyond the magical javelin Rubicon of 90 metres.
The 26-year-old suddenly knew he had to throw way beyond his best &ndash; his tantalising 89.94m at the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League &ndash; to retain the Olympic title he claimed in Tokyo in 2021, and to secure a third global title in four seasons.
In Budapest in 2023, Chopra landed his country&rsquo;s first gold medal in the 40-year history of the World Athletics Championships, resisting the emerging challenge of Nadeem, whose silver represented Pakistan&rsquo;s first medal of any colour.
Having fluffed his opening-round effort in the Paris final, Chopra responded with 89.45m, the second-best throw of his career at that point.
Hindered by a niggling hamstring problem, he proceeded to foul his remaining four attempts. He had to settle for the second best of Olympic silver.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/676a85d0c5311e130eeff1eb.jpg" alt="Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem and Anderson Peters on the javelin podium in Paris" />
Neeraj Chopra, Arshad Nadeem and Anderson Peters on the javelin podium in Paris (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
</div>
The sporting rivalry between India and Pakistan might be on the fierce side of intense in the cricketing arena but, happily, Chopra and Nadeem enjoy a healthy, respectful friendship.
&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s competition was really great,&rdquo; a magnanimous Chopra reflected. &ldquo;Arshad threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country.
&ldquo;On my second throw, I believed in myself to think I could also throw that far. But, in javelin, if your run up is not so good, you can&rsquo;t go very far.&rdquo;
<h2>Zelezny &ndash; from YouTube to personal coach</h2>
In an effort to go farther in future &ndash; to become the 25th member of the 90-metre club, and to successfully defend his title at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 &ndash; Chopra announced on 9 November that he has appointed Zelezny as his coach.
"Growing up, I admired Jan's technique and precision and spent a lot of time watching videos of him," said Chopra.
"He was the best in the sport for so many years, and I believe that working with him will be invaluable because our throwing styles are similar and his knowledge is unmatched.
"It's an honour to have Jan by my side as I push towards the next level in my career, and I can't wait to get started."
Zelezny, of course, achieved a different level in his javelin career: three Olympic titles, three world titles and holder of the world record, at 98.48m, since 1996.
He has also been responsible for 34 of the 127 throws of 90m-plus that have been accomplished thus far by 24 men.
&ldquo;I like Neeraj&rsquo;s story,&rdquo; said Zelezny. &ldquo;I see big potential, as he is young and able to improve."
Chopra turns 27 on 24 December. Nadeem will be 28 on 2 January.
The Olympic final in Paris was the first time in 11 encounters that the elder managed to get the better of the younger.
In a rivalry dating back to the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati, where Chopra took gold with a PB of 82.33m and Nadeem bronze with 78.33m, the Pakistani had never ventured within two metres of the Indian until the 2022 world final.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64ebacc6b64fab49f3f15e0d.jpg" alt="Neeraj Chopra at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23" />
Neeraj Chopra at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
At global level, they first met in the qualifying round at the 2016 World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Chopra topping the pile with 78.20m and Nadeem exiting the competition in 15th place with 67.17m.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, Chopra threw 87.78m for the gold medal. Nadeem finished fifth with 84.62m.
In the final of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, Chopra finished runner-up to Grenada&rsquo;s Anderson Peters, throwing 88.13m. Nadeem was again fifth, with 86.16m.
That gap of 97cm was whittled down to 25cm at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Chopra&rsquo;s best of 88.17m edging the gold ahead of Nadeem&rsquo;s 87.82m.
The difference in the 2024 Olympic final was 3.52m in Nadeem&rsquo;s favour.
The gauntlet has been laid down in the great global joust for men&rsquo;s javelin supremacy.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage

World champion Neeraj Chopra has recently appointed world record-holder Jan Zelezny as his coach in pursuit of the 90-metre barrier

Chopra: ‘Working with Zelezny will be invaluable’

The penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 on Friday (30) is packed with finals, from the 10,000m race walk through to the 200m.
Here are three things to watch out for at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna. 
<h2>Sprint showdowns</h2>
After winning the 100m title on Wednesday (28), South Africa&rsquo;s Bayanda Walaza returns on the hunt for a sprint double.
The 18-year-old, who formed part of his nation&rsquo;s silver medal-winning 4x100m team at the Paris Olympics, cruised through the 200m heats and semifinals on Thursday (29), clocking 21.00 after easing up in the latter. But he&rsquo;s set to face some strong competition from Australia's 16-year-old Gout Gout, who won his heat in 20.77.
In the women&rsquo;s event, Gout&rsquo;s compatriot Torrie Lewis, who reached the Olympic semifinals in Paris, seeks her first global medal after leading the semifinals in 23.14. Adaejah Hodge of British Virgin Islands, who has already claimed 100m silver in Lima, won her semifinal in 23.18 and will be in the race for another medal.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-sprints" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 sprint events preview</a> 
<h2>Yan takes aim for javelin title</h2>
China&rsquo;s Yan Ziyi has the chance to add a global title to her world U20 record. At the age of just 15, Yan threw 64.28m in Hangzhou in April to improve both the ratified world U20 record of 63.86m set by Cuba&rsquo;s Yulenmis Aguilar in 2015 and the unratified 63.96m achieved by Elina Tzengko of Greece in 2020.
Now 16, Yan has also surpassed 62 metres in three other competitions this year and could threaten championship record of 63.52m set by Adriana Vilagos in Cali in 2022.
Another athlete with medal potential is Germany&rsquo;s Mirja Lukas, who threw 58.70m last month and topped qualification with 56.76m.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-throws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 throws events preview</a> 
<h2>Race walks in the morning spotlight</h2>
The 10,000m race walk events are the only two morning session finals in Lima and they will take centre stage on Friday morning.
In the men&rsquo;s event, Australia&rsquo;s Isaac Beacroft will want to add world U20 gold to the U20 10km title he claimed at the World Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya in April.
The 17-year-old has a track PB of 40:44.47 but clocked an Oceanian U20 record of 39:56 in Antalya. He&rsquo;s set to be challenged by Japan&rsquo;s Sohtaroh Osaka, who was fourth in Antalya but has a track PB of 39:54.42.
In the women&rsquo;s race, Spain&rsquo;s Aldara Meilan will want to go one better than her runner-up spot in Antalya. Her PB of 45:06.75 makes her the fastest entrant by 50 seconds, but she could have competition in China&rsquo;s Chen Meiling, who has a superior road PB of 43:57 but finished fifth in Antalya.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-combined-events-race-walks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 combined events and race walks preview</a> 
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

World Athletics U20 Championships

The penultimate day of the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 on Friday is packed with finals

Three things to watch on day four in Lima

Day three of the&nbsp;World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 offers another action-packed programme.
Here are three things to follow at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna on Thursday (29). 
<h2>Spectacular 400m showdowns</h2>
On a day that will showcase eight finals, along with the opening half of the decathlon, two of the most-anticipated races will be saved for last. The men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 400m finals will announce to the world some potential senior stars of the one-lap event.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s final looks an open contest and there could be very little between the medallists, with Paris Olympians Lurdes Gloria Manuel of Czechia quickest in the semifinals, winning in 51.91 from Nigeria&rsquo;s Ella Onojuvwevwo (51.99). USA&rsquo;s Zaya Akins was an impressive winner of the first semifinal in 52.11, with Elisa Valensin clocking an Italian U20 record of 52.23 in second. Canada&rsquo;s Dianna Proctor came through strongly to take victory in the other semifinal in a PB of 52.59.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s 400m looks set to be a duel between US pair Jayden Davis and Sidi Njie. Davis blasted to victory in the first semifinal in 45.79 while US U20 champion Njie clocked 46.56 to take the win in his semifinal after shutting down far from the finish. Japan&rsquo;s Kentaro Shirahata was an impressive winner of the other semifinal in 46.30 and will have his eyes on a medal.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-sprints" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 sprint events preview</a>
<h2>80-metre men clash in javelin final</h2>
There&rsquo;s no shortage of action in the field on Wednesday and the men&rsquo;s javelin could prove the pick of it, pitting Slovenia&rsquo;s Tom Tersek against China&rsquo;s Wang Xiaobo. They coasted through qualification with Wang throwing 73.83m and Tersek 73.37m. Tersek set a Slovenian U20 record of 80.87m in June and backed it up with 79.44m to win the national U20 title. Xiaobo set his own national U20 record of 80.61m last year and this year his best is the 76.84m to finish third at the Chinese Championships.&nbsp;
Germany&rsquo;s Oskar Janicke broke new ground in qualification, throwing a PB of 73.02m, and could well be in the shake-up along with Ukraine&rsquo;s Illia Saievskyi, who threw a 75.80m PB in May.&nbsp;
The men&rsquo;s hammer final will see Iosef Kesidis of Cyprus looking to upgrade the bronze medal he won in Cali two years ago and having thrown 78.53m in qualification, it will come as no surprise if he breaks his national U20 record of 81.07m.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault final could be dominated by US pair Hannah Grace and Molly Haywood, who both cleared 4.40m at their national U20 Championships, while the men&rsquo;s triple jump is likely to centre on New Zealand&rsquo;s Ethan Olivier, a Paris Olympian who has jumped 17.01m, more than half a metre beyond his rivals.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-throws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 throws events preview</a>
<h2>Distance superpowers set to square off</h2>
There will be two middle-distance finals on the track &ndash; the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase and men&rsquo;s 3000m &ndash; and it will be a massive shock if the titles head anywhere other than Kenya or Ethiopia.&nbsp;
Ethiopia has claimed the last two men&rsquo;s 3000m titles but Kenya won the five before that, and the Kenyan duo of Clinton Kimutai Ngetich and Denis Kipkoech should prove tough to beat here, with respective bests of 7:48.09 and 7:48.48. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Ybeltal Gashahun and Abrha Gebru finished 1-2 at their national U20 trials and should put up a strong showing, while Norway&rsquo;s Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen and Dutch athlete Juan Zijderlaan have both run 7:51.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase title has been won by Kenya on nine of 10 occasions, the only exception being in 2014 when Kenyan-born Ruth Jebet won for Bahrain. But this should be the year when Ethiopia, a growing force in the event, finally gets its gold.&nbsp;
Sembo Almayew comes in as by far the fastest athlete with a season&rsquo;s best of 9:00.83 and she&rsquo;s looking to improve on the silver she won in Cali two years ago. She looks primed to do so after coasting to victory in her heat in 9:30.59. Uganda&rsquo;s Loice Chekwemoi is the second quickest of the finalists via her PB of 9:24.47.
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-u20-championships/lima24/news/preview/wu20-lima-24-preview-distance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WU20 Lima 24 distance events preview</a> 
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Day three of the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 offers another action-packed programme

Three things to follow on day three in Lima

The World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 will take place between 27-31 August, with more than 1700 athletes from 134 teams set to take part.
Here we take a look at the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s jumps events at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s shot put</h2>
Akaoma Odeluga and Gracelyn Leiseth look tough to beat in the women&rsquo;s shot put and will surely have their sights on a US one-two in Lima.
Leiseth won the national U20 title ahead of Odeluga to complete a throws double in Eugene, one day on from her discus win. But it&rsquo;s Odeluga who tops the shot put entry list with the PB of 18.13m she set to finish eighth at the US Olympic Team Trials and prior to that she threw 18.11m at the Southeastern Conference. Only one other U20 woman has surpassed 18 metres since 2015 and that&rsquo;s world U20 leader Ashley Erasmus, who isn&rsquo;t entered for Lima.
Leiseth is next on the entry list thanks to the 17.70m she threw in May. Joining them in the hunt for medals will be Australia&rsquo;s Marley Raikiwasa, who threw 16.84m in May, and China&rsquo;s Tian Xinyi, who set a PB of 16.35m in March.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s shot put</h2>
Yannick Rolvink leads the entry list by more than a metre thanks to the Dutch U20 record of 21.81m he set with the 6kg implement on home soil last month. He also threw 20.46m to win the U20 event at the FBK Games and has surpassed 19 metres during seven other competitions this year.
Should he be near his top form then Rolvink looks on track for gold, but the battle for the other medals could be fierce. Ben Smith won the US U20 title with a PB of 20.57m and will hope to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan, who won the world U20 title in Cali in 2022.
German U20 champion Georg Harpf threw 20.61m indoors and followed that with 20.02m outdoors in May, while Rolvink&rsquo;s teammate Jarno van Daalen and Finland&rsquo;s Aatu Kangasniemi have respective bests of 20.40m and 20.50m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s discus</h2>
The top four women on the entry list have all surpassed 57 metres this season and lead the medal hunt in Lima. Canada&rsquo;s Julia Tunks threw 62.07m in Ramona in May, improving on the PB of 59.84m she set there two months prior, and she has also thrown beyond 59 metres in four other competitions so far this year.&nbsp;
Germany&rsquo;s Curly Brown, China&rsquo;s Huang Jingru and Australia&rsquo;s Marley Raikiwasa &ndash; also a medal contender in the shot put &ndash; are also in PB form this year. European U20 champion Brown threw 57.66m in May, while Huang managed 57.52m in June and Raikiwasa &ndash; who is now based in the US at Auburn University and finished ninth in Cali in 2022 &ndash; threw 57.42m in May.
Gracelyn Leiseth, who set a PB of 54.72m to win the first part of a US U20 throws title double, will be hoping to do enough to again claim two medals.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s discus</h2>
Ukraine&rsquo;s Mykhailo Brudin returns to the world U20 stage, looking to build on the bronze he claimed in Cali two years ago.
Since that medal win, secured with a 63.30m throw, Brudin has become a European U20 champion and improved his PB with the 1.750kg implement to 66.58m when winning that continental title. His focus so far this year has been on throwing the senior implement, but he still managed 63.00m during the first of his two outings with the 1.750kg discus so far this year.
If the 19-year-old can get near his PB form then he will be the man to beat, but looking to challenge will be Jamaica&rsquo;s Shaiquan Selbourne Dunn, who has thrown more than two metres farther than his rivals this season. His best is the 65.48m he threw to win at the ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships in Kingston in March.
Among those looking to fight for podium places will be China&rsquo;s Jiang Zehao and South Africa&rsquo;s Juan Marais, who have both thrown beyond 63 metres this year, plus Australia&rsquo;s Ethan Ayodele, who threw a PB of 62.92m in April.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s hammer</h2>
China&rsquo;s Zhang Jiale might only be 17 but she already sits third on the world U20 all-time list. And if in Lima she achieves a performance anywhere near the PB of 72.25m that put her there, she will challenge the championship record set by the world U20 record-holder, Silja Kosonen.
Kosonen set the world U20 record of 73.43m in 2021, the same year she won the world U20 title with that championship record of 71.64m. While Zhang has only surpassed that mark once in her career so far, she threw 67.33m at the Chinese Championships in June and won the Asian U20 title with 66.79m.
Only one of her opponents in Lima has a PB beyond that &ndash; European U20 champion Valentina Savva of Cyprus, who finished fifth at the 2021 World U20 Championships and fourth at the 2022 edition, and will be hoping to go at least one better to make it on to the podium this time. She set her PB of 67.87m in February.
Germany&rsquo;s Johanna Marrwitz has a PB of 66.44m, while Hungary&rsquo;s Villo Viszkeleti will also be on the hunt for a medal after her PB of 65.13m in June.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s hammer</h2>
Two years on from his bronze medal win in Cali, Iosif Kesidis of Cyprus starts as favourite. The now 19-year-old threw 76.32m to get his medal in 2022 and already this year he has improved the national U20 record to 81.07m, also throwing 79.80m and 78.03m in his two other competitions with the 6kg implement.
His closest challengers look to be Hungary&rsquo;s Armin Szabados and Georgios Papanastasiou of Greece, who have respectively thrown 77.90m and 77.77m this year. It was Papanastasiou&rsquo;s compatriot Ioannis Korakidis who won with 79.11m in Cali, when Kesidis claimed bronze.
Aatu Kangasniemi &ndash; also a contender in the shot put &ndash; is the fourth athlete in the field to have surpassed 75 metres this season, his 75.78m PB having been set last month.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s javelin</h2>
As the world U20 record-holder, China&rsquo;s Yan Ziyi is the favourite for this title.
At the age of just 15, Yan threw 64.28m in Hangzhou in April to improve both the ratified world U20 record of 63.86m set by Cuba&rsquo;s Yulenmis Aguilar in 2015 and the unratified 63.96m achieved by Elina Tzengko of Greece in 2020.
Now 16, Yan followed that mark with performances including 62.96m to win the Chinese U20 title and 63.51m to win at the Chinese Championships. The World U20 Championships record is the 63.52m Adriana Vilagos achieved at the last edition of the event in 2022.
Looking to join Yan on the podium will be Germany&rsquo;s Mirja Lukas, who threw 58.70m last month, plus Finland&rsquo;s Rebecca Nelimarkka (56.70m PB) and Asian U20 champion Chu Pin-Hsun of Chinese Taipei (56.66m PB).
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s javelin</h2>
The men&rsquo;s javelin contest could come down to a battle between the 80-metre-plus throwers.
Slovenia&rsquo;s Tom Tersek threw a national U20 record of 80.87m to win the Slovenian title at the end of June and the 17-year-old backed it up with 79.44m to win the national U20 title a couple of weeks later.
China&rsquo;s Wang Xiaobo, on the other hand, set his own national U20 record of 80.61m last year and this year his best is the 76.84m he threw to finish third at the Chinese Championships &ndash; his last contest before Lima.
Chinese Taipei&rsquo;s 17-year-old Huang Chao-Hong threw his PB of 76.31m last year and has a best of 74.90m in 2024, while Ukraine&rsquo;s Illia Saievskyi will look to build on the 75.80m PB he set in May.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

A look at the women's and men's throwing events

WU20 Lima 24 preview: throws

World champion Haruka Kitaguchi added the Olympic title to her medal collection by winning the women&rsquo;s javelin at the Paris 2024 Games on Saturday (10).
In so doing, she won Japan&rsquo;s only athletics gold of these Games. She also becomes the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic medal in a field event.
Her opening effort of 65.80m stood up as the best mark of the night. South Africa&rsquo;s Jo-Ane van Dyk took silver with 63.93m, just 25 centimetres ahead of Czechia&rsquo;s Nikola Ogrodnikova.
Kitaguchi, who memorably won gold at last year&rsquo;s World Championships with her final throw, this time made her intentions clear from the outset, taking an early lead with her opening effort of 65.80m.
<div><a href="https://worldathletics.org/why-register" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/66acb50c9f3df9847c402c0c.jpg" alt="Inside Track banner" /></a></div>
By the end of the first round, she had a lead of more than three metres as Spain&rsquo;s Yulenmis Aguilar sat in second place with 62.78m, just ahead of Australia&rsquo;s Kathryn Mitchell (62.63m).
World silver medallist Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado moved into second place with her second-round throw of 63.00m. The Colombian was passed in round three by three women: Van Dyk (63.93m), Ogrodnikova (63.68m) and Croatia&rsquo;s 2016 Olympic champion Sara Kolak (63.40m).
Greece&rsquo;s 2022 European champion Elina Tzengko and world bronze medallist Mackenzie Little of Australia did not make it past the half-way stage, managing best throws of 61.85m and 60.32m respectively.
There were no improvements in the fourth or fifth rounds, though Kitaguchi backed up her leading mark with a 64.73m throw with her penultimate effort.
In the final round, Kolak produced another strong throw, but her 63.04m was no improvement, keeping the Croatian in fourth. Ogrodnikova and Van Dyk were next up, but once again neither woman improved and so they finished third and second respectively.
Kitaguchi, confirmed as champion, took to the runway for her final attempt. Her javelin sailed out to about 60 metres but she wandered through the line and celebrated her victory.
"I cannot believe this, this wasn&rsquo;t easy for me," said Kitaguchi. "I couldn&rsquo;t train well in the lead-up to the Games, but my physio and my team believed in me. Without their help, I wouldn't have won gold today."
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S JAVELIN THROW MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">65.80m SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Jo-Ane van Dyk (RSA)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">63.93m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Nikola Ogrodnikova (CZE)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">63.68m SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/results/women/javelin-throw/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
For all the latest results, statistics and coverage during the Paris 2024 Olympics, join <a href="https://worldathletics.org/why-register" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside Track</a> today for free

The XXXIII Olympic Games

World champion Haruka Kitaguchi added the Olympic title to her medal collection by winning the women’s javelin at the Paris 2024 Games on Saturday (10).

Kitaguchi lands second global javelin title with Olympic gold in Paris

Like Zeus with a spear of lightning, Pakistan&rsquo;s Arshad Nadeem cracked open the men&rsquo;s javelin competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with one mighty blow, leaving his competitors shaken on Thursday (8).
Without warning, in the second round of competition, 27-year-old Nadeem unleashed a thunderbolt, a 92.97m monster of a throw, which broke the Olympic record and stunned the 11 other men in the final, including the defending champion and world champion Neeraj Chopra.
It was the biggest throw in the world for more than two years and lifted Nadeem to No.6 on the all-time list.
That his opponents were thunderstruck was obvious as the rest of the event unfolded.
Chopra responded initially with his best throw of the competition, 89.45m, which lifted him into second position, but he fouled his next four throws trying desperately to find something extra which would put him on terms with his sub-continental rival.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters, the only man in the field to have a bigger throw to his name (93.07m in 2022), tried valiantly to respond to the challenge, producing an 88.54m effort in the fourth round that lifted him into the bronze medal position, slipping past Czechia&rsquo;s regular medal-winner Jakub Vadlejch (88.50m).
In all, six men threw over 87 metres, including 2015 world champion Julius Yego (87.72m) and German challenger Julian Weber (87.40m), but none could breach the 90-metre barrier.
To underline his superiority, Nadeem returned in the final round to launch the spear 91.79m, the second best performance of his career.
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The Pakistani claimed not only his country&rsquo;s first Olympic medal and first Olympic gold medal in athletics, but also its first medal in any sport for 32 years.
Nadeem said he was not surprised by his form in Paris.
&ldquo;I was expecting and hoping to even go further but ultimately, I am content with 92.97m as it allowed me to win the gold," he explained. &ldquo;But I will continue working harder to extend this throw to over 95 metres.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Chopra said his preparation was affected by a groin injury, but he never gave up hope that he might match his rival.
&ldquo;Today&rsquo;s competition was really great. Arshad threw really well. Congratulations to him and his country," he said. "Second throw I believed in myself to think I can also throw that far. But in javelin, if your run up is not so good, you can&rsquo;t go very far.&rdquo;
Peters was delighted to earn the bronze medal.
&ldquo;Finally, finally. I&rsquo;ve been dreaming about this since I saw Keshorn Walcott win gold in 2012," he said. &ldquo;From that moment I decided I was going to work my hardest to get an Olympic medal.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The third of eight siblings from a humble background in Pakistan&rsquo;s Punjab region, Nadeem&rsquo;s sporting talent initially emerged in cricket, a national obsession, where he was a promising fast bowler. However, his father was not a cricket fan and advised him to use his fast arm for a different purpose, directing him towards an athletics club, where his throwing talents were immediately recognised.
Despite being shaded by his Indian rival Chopra in major competition in recent years, Nadeem has been quietly building a record that made him a contender at the highest level.
He finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympic Games before breaking through to claim his first major title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he duelled with Peters for the gold medal before unleashing his first 90-metre throw to settle the contest.
He continued to climb the ranks last year, coming back from elbow surgery to claim his first global medal, silver behind Chopra, at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
A knee injury initially hindered his preparation for the Paris Games, but after surgery in February in the United Kingdom, he steadily worked his way back into good form.
His best throw of the year, before tonight&rsquo;s final, was his 86.59m throw in qualifying in Paris, but it clearly gave him enough confidence to attack the runway in the final and grab his first global title.
Pakistan and India are often at odds as neighbours, but Nadeem and Chopra do not carry any animosity on to the athletics track.
&ldquo;Neeraj and I are on very good terms,&rdquo; Nadeem told Al Jazeera last month. &ldquo;Whenever we are abroad in training or an event, we always talk to each other and stay in touch, but when it comes to competition, then you only think of yourself. Look, India is our neighbour. People on both sides say a lot of things about each other&rsquo;s country, but this is what sports teaches us &ndash; to be friendly and that we don&rsquo;t have to focus on our differences.&rdquo;
Between them they have elevated their two countries to the forefront of javelin competition in recent years. Chopra was the first Indian to win an Olympic athletics gold medal in Tokyo, and Nadeem has now done the same for Pakistan in Paris.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S JAVELIN MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Arshad Nadeem (PAK)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">92.97m OR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Neeraj Chopra (IND)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">89.45m SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Anderson Peters (GRN)</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">88.54m</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/results/men/javelin-throw/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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Like Zeus with a spear of lightning, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem cracked open the men’s javelin competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with one mighty blow

Nadeem sets Olympic and Asian record to win javelin gold in Paris

<h2>Women's javelin</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;urlSlug=paris24&amp;sexCode=W&amp;disciplineCode=JT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/javelin-throw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/javelin-throw/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/throws/javelin-throw/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/throws/javelin-throw/all/women/senio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/throws/javelin-throw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
&bull; Japan&rsquo;s Haruka Kitaguchi will seek to add Olympic gold to the world title she won last summer &bull; Colombia&rsquo;s world silver medallist Flor Ruiz tops this year&rsquo;s world list &bull; Serbia&rsquo;s 20-year-old Adriana Vilagos, Austria&rsquo;s Victoria Hudson and Australia&rsquo;s Mackenzie Little also loom large
In 2022 <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/japan/haruka-kitaguchi-14649131" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Haruka Kitaguchi</a> became the first Japanese woman to win a senior global medal in any throwing event when taking bronze at the World Championships.
Last year she turned bronze into gold at the World Championships in Budapest with a last-round effort of 66.73m that overhauled the first-round lead set by Colombia&rsquo;s <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/colombia/flor-denis-ruiz-hurtado-14369335" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flor Ruiz</a>, a South American record of 65.47m.
This exuberant 26-year-old Japanese athlete &ndash; who set a season&rsquo;s best of 65.21m when winning at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco in July &ndash; will be a strong contender for gold in what will be her second Olympics.
But such is the spread of talent in this event that the competition in Paris is likely to be open and unpredictable.
Ruiz, 33, who was ninth at the Rio 2016 Games, remains a strong contender for the title in Paris having extended her South American record to a world-leading 66.70m earlier this year. She hasn&rsquo;t competed since May, though, so her recent form is somewhat unknown.
But only a little way behind her is another thrower demonstrating top form at the ideal time &ndash; Australia&rsquo;s world bronze medallist <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/mackenzie-little-14464527" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mackenzie Little</a>, whose winning effort of 66.27m at the London Diamond League meeting in late July moved her to second on this year&rsquo;s world list.
In second place was the 20-year-old Serbian <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/serbia/adriana-vilagos-14791117" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adriana Vilagos</a>, who earned European silver in June in a national record of 64.42m, a mark she raised to 65.58m in what was a huge morale-booster ahead of the Olympics.
Also firmly in the frame will be the 28-year-old Austrian who beat Vilagos to European gold by just 20cm, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/austria/victoria-hudson-14446694" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victoria Hudson</a>, who competed at the last Olympic Games but failed to reach the final.
Meanwhile <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/maggie-malone-hardin-14469594" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maggie Malone-Hardin</a> has underlined her medal possibilities with a throw of 65.00m in early June which she followed up by winning the US Trials with 64.58m.
Other potential contenders include NCAA champion Rhema Otabor of The Bahamas, 2021 Olympic silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk of Poland and European bronze medallist Marie-Therese Obst of Norway.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's javelin</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;urlSlug=paris24&amp;sexCode=M&amp;disciplineCode=JT" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/olympic-games/paris24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/javelin-throw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/javelin-throw/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/throws/javelin-throw/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/throws/javelin-throw/all/men/senio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/throws/javelin-throw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
&bull;&nbsp;India&rsquo;s world and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will defend title still seeking a first 90-metre throw &bull; Czech thrower Jakob Vadlejch looking good after earning long-awaited European gold in Rome &bull; German teenager Max Dehning tops this year&rsquo;s world list with early effort of 90.20m
This year, after silver medals at the Olympics, World and European Championships, and a couple of world bronzes, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/czechia/jakub-vadlejch-14168152" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jakub Vadlejch</a> finally struck gold.
And as the 33-year-old Czech athlete stood atop the podium in Rome&rsquo;s Stadio Olimpico last month having won the European title, you wonder how profoundly his change in altitude might affect his attitude at Paris 2024.
Vadlejch has been in form since the start of the season, when he won an almighty competition at the Doha Diamond League meeting in May with an effort of 88.38m, beating India&rsquo;s world and Olympic champion <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/india/neeraj-chopra-14549089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neeraj Chopra</a> by just two centimetres, and with Grenada&rsquo;s two-time world champion <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/grenada/anderson-peters-14520432" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anderson Peters</a> finishing third with 86.36m.
In Rome he bettered that mark, claiming his first international gold with a final-round effort of 88.65m to snatch victory from Germany&rsquo;s defending champion and first-round leader on 85.94m, <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/germany/julian-weber-14420076" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Julian Weber</a>.
It seems fate could be working for Vadlejch this year.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610e7f8c455c4a1d10ace1cb.jpg" alt="Neeraj Chopra celebrates his javelin win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games" />
Neeraj Chopra celebrates his javelin win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Chopra, massively popular in India following his landmark victories over the past three years, will surely make a strong defence of his title as he seeks to get over the 90-metre marker for the first time in his illustrious career, which includes an Indian record of 89.94m set in Stockholm in 2022.
Peters, meanwhile, will have sights set on a third global title having returned to something like his best form after recovering from the severe injuries he sustained in August 2022 when he was beaten by five crew members of a party boat.
A throw of 78.49m was not enough for him to qualify for last year&rsquo;s world final in Budapest, but this ebullient 26-year-old is clearly in significantly better shape now.
Weber also stands as a strong medal contender, having thrown 88.37m this year, which has him currently third on this year&rsquo;s world list.
He ranks behind young teammate <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/germany/max-dehning-14932935" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Max Dehning</a>, who threw a world-leading 90.20m in February to break the European U23 record.
While the 19-year-old appears to have a bright future, his next-best throw this season has been 81.78m while his past four competitions have been on the shorter side of the 80-metre line.
World silver medallist <a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/pakistan/arshad-nadeem-14698105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arshad Nadeem</a> of Pakistan has competed just once this year, throwing 84.21m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris, but he is a proven championship performer and a 90-metre thrower at his best.
Finland&rsquo;s European bronze medallist Oliver Helander, currently seventh on the world list with the 85.75m he threw in Rome, will also be in the mix, as will 24-year-old Teuraiterai Tuapia, who broke the French record this year with 86.11m.
Meanwhile Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s 31-year-old Keshorn Walcott, 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 bronze medallist, is back in the frame with a season&rsquo;s best of 85.22m that has him ranked 11th on the world list.
Another global champion, Kenya&rsquo;s 2015 world gold medallist Julius Yego, has maintained his position as a genuine challenger having won the African title with 80.24m.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the javelin at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games 

Paris Olympics preview: javelin

Czechia&rsquo;s 2013 world javelin champion Vitezslav Vesely has announced his retirement from the sport.
The 41-year-old, who also claimed two Olympic bronze medals during his successful career, last competed in 2022 and he is set to bid his farewell at the Czech Championships in Zlin on Sunday.
Vesely made his international debut more than two decades ago, at the 2002 World U20 Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, where he placed ninth in the final. He struggled with injuries over the next few years but in 2006 he was introduced to Jan Zelezny, the world record-holder and three-time Olympic champion, who agreed to coach the rising talent.
Vesely&rsquo;s senior debut on the global stage came at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where he surpassed 80 metres for the first time with a throw of 81.20m to qualify for the final.&nbsp;
He competed at his first senior World Championships in Berlin the following year and at the next edition, in Daegu in 2011, he just missed a medal as he finished fourth with 84.11m.
He didn&rsquo;t have to wait too long to make it on to the podium.
The following year Vesely first won the European title, throwing 83.72m in Helsinki, and then he headed to London for his second Olympic Games. After throwing a PB of 88.34m in qualification, he returned to manage 83.34m in the final. It initially placed him fourth, but he was later upgraded to bronze following the disqualification of silver medallist Oleksandr Pyatnytsya. Later that season, Vesely claimed the first of his two Diamond League crowns.
Overcoming injury and nerves, he became a global champion in 2013, as he threw 87.17m to win world gold in Moscow, and he went on to secure a second Diamond League title.
&ldquo;I knew I had just one or a maximum two chances to throw far in the final,&rdquo; <a href="https://worldathletics.org/spikes/news/v-teslav-vesely-i-couldnt-even-run-two-weeks-before" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said in 2014</a>, remembering his Moscow experience. &ldquo;I could not even run during training two weeks before Moscow and I had to take painkillers just to survive.&rdquo;
Over the next few years his highs included European silver medals in Zurich in 2014 and Amsterdam in 2016, the year in which he placed seventh at the Rio Olympics.
But his Olympic medal hopes were not over and in Tokyo five years later he achieved his best throw in six years, launching the implement 85.44m to secure a second Olympic bronze at the age of 38.
&ldquo;Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my career and been a big part of my journey,&rdquo; Vesely told the Czech athletics federation when announcing his retirement. &ldquo;A big thank you goes to my coaches Jan Zelezny, Jaroslav Halv and Zdenek Lip. I must not forget my training partners Petr Frydrych, Jakub Vadlejch and Lukas Lipa.
&ldquo;It has been an amazing ride full of challenges, joys and hard work. I am grateful for all the experiences and I look forward to the next chapters of my life.&rdquo;
World Athletics

Czechia’s 2013 world javelin champion Vitezslav Vesely has announced his retirement from the sport

Vesely, 2013 world javelin champion, retires

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will go up against world leader Max Dehning and European champion Julian Weber in a javelin clash at the Paavo Nurmi Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Turku on 18 June.
The event forms part of Chopra&rsquo;s preparations ahead of his Olympic title defence in Paris in August, as he returns to a meeting at which he placed second in 2022.
In that competition two years ago, India&rsquo;s Chopra threw 89.30m in a contest won by Finland&rsquo;s Oliver Helander with a PB of 89.83m. Chopra&rsquo;s lifetime best is 89.94m, achieved in Stockholm in 2022.
Chopra also won the world title in Budapest last year with a throw of 88.17m.
According to his coach Klaus Bartonietz, Chopra threw 90.40m last year at a training camp in Belek. &ldquo;Breaking 90 metres is just a matter of time,&rdquo; Bartonietz said at the World Javelin Conference in Kuortane last year. &ldquo;However, we say that it's just a number.&rdquo;
Helander also returns to compete in Turku and joining them at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium will be Germany&rsquo;s Dehning and Weber, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and the past two editions of the World Championships, plus Finland&rsquo;s Lassi Etelatalo.
The 19-year-old Dehning threw 90.20m in Halle in February &ndash; an improvement of more than 11 metres on his previous best. That mark by the world U20 silver medallist remains the world lead.
These five athletes are the first to be announced for this year&rsquo;s Paavo Nurmi Games, the seventh Continental Tour Gold event of the season.
Organisers for World Athletics

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will go up against world leader Max Dehning and European champion Julian Weber in a javelin clash at the Paavo Nurmi Games

Chopra, Dehning and Weber in Turku javelin clash

As the 19 surviving entrants moved on from the field to the track in Santiago&rsquo;s Estadio Nacional for the final event of the heptathlon at the 2000 World U20 Championships, Barbora Spotakova occupied one of the podium positions.&nbsp;
A mighty javelin throw of 54.15m had propelled the teenage Czech multi-eventer into third spot &ndash; behind one Carolina Kluft of Sweden and Russia&rsquo;s Lidiya Bashlykova-Nokrhina.
With just seven points to spare, young &lsquo;Bara&rsquo; &ndash; as she was known to her teammates, family and friends &ndash; could not afford to let Sanna Saarman get ahead of her in the 800m if she was to collect the bronze medal. Sadly, it was not to be.
As the 17-year-old Kluft comfortably secured the gold (with 6056 points) and Bashlykova-Nokrhina the silver (with 5898), the 19-year-old Spotakova found herself edged out of third place.&nbsp;
She finished fifth in the third and final 800m heat in 2:24.30 &ndash; one place and 2.10sec behind Saarman. The Finn took bronze with 5707 points. Spotakova finished fourth with 5689.
Like Kluft, &lsquo;Bara&rsquo; was to become one of the all-time greats of track and field &ndash; but not as a multi-eventer. The six appearances she made at the senior World Athletics Championships were all as a javelin thrower. From the last of those, in Doha in 2019 &ndash; in which she finished ninth &ndash; she has kindly chosen to donate her singlet, name bib and throwing boots to the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/heritage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Museum of World Athletics (MOWA)</a>.
The MOWA is delighted to receive them because the one-time track and field all-rounder, the nearly-girl of the heptathlon at those 2000 World U20 Championships, proceeded to establish herself as the undisputed queen of the javelin, capturing three world titles and two Olympic gold medals, and setting a world record mark of 72.28m that has remained intact for 15 years now.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65a5419fa51de9dfa5153c7c.jpg" alt="Barbora Spotakova's vest from the 2019 World Championships" />
Barbora Spotakova's vest from the 2019 World Championships (&copy; MOWA)
</div>
<h2>&ldquo;Every fairytale comes to an end&rdquo;</h2>
The first of Spotakova&rsquo;s five global championship successes came in Osaka in 2007. At those same World Athletics Championships, Kluft bade farewell to her heptathlon career at the age of 24, completing a hat-trick of world titles to add to the Olympic gold she won in Athens in 2004.
Remarkably, Spotakova was still a major championship medal winner as a 41-year-old mother of two young boys. She announced her retirement from international competition after claiming a brilliant bronze at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich.
&ldquo;Every fairytale comes to an end and mine had a wonderful happy ending in the form of a bronze medal at the European Championships in Munich, symbolically closing the circle,&rdquo; Spotakova announced at a press conference in Prague in September last year.
Even though she has stepped off the international circuit to concentrate on the upbringing of her two boys &ndash; Janek, now 10, and Darek, five &ndash; the standard bearer of the women&rsquo;s javelin has not quite been able to lay down her spear for good.
In 2023, at the age of 42, she finished second in the Czech Championships, sixth in the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava and threw a season&rsquo;s best of 60.32m, good enough for 44th on the world list and 19th on the European list.
It all might have been very different, of course, had Spotakova chosen to stay in the multi-events game &ndash; instead of gaining the singular focus that Kluft craved in her later career as an injury-plagued long jump specialist, who also fleetingly dabbled in the triple jump.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65a54279a51de9dfa5153c7f.jpg" alt="Barbora Spotakova in Osaka in 2007" />
Barbora Spotakova in Osaka in 2007 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
<h2>Switch to the javelin</h2>
Spotakova&rsquo;s father, Frantisek, was a decathlete, and her mother, Ludmila, was also an athlete and coach.&nbsp;
At 14, Barbora moved from the family home in Jablonec nad Nisou in the north of Czechia to study at the Pripotocni Gymnasium, a specialist sports school in Prague. In her teenage years in the Czech capital, she spent some of her spare time earning money as a cleaner and gained a fondness for drinking beer and listening to punk bands in pubs.
Still, Spotakova kept at her studies and emerged as talented track and field all-rounder under the guidance of coach Rudolf Cerny, finishing runner-up in the Czech U20 indoor pentathlon in 1999.
Outdoors, the following year she finished ninth in the heptathlon in the Multistars meet at Desenzano, notched a victory at the Combined Events International in Hexham and finished third at the Czech Championships in Prague, improving her PB to 5873 points &ndash; a score that would have comfortably secured bronze at the World U20 Championships in Chile.
The 2001 season proved to be a watershed for Spotakova. She again placed third at the Czech Championships and seventh in the European Athletics Multi-Events competition at Maribor but failed to kick on, registering an annual best of 5414.&nbsp;
It was on a subsequent one-year stay at the University of Minnesota, from 2001-02, that Spotakova began to focus on the javelin, though she took the 2002 Big Ten heptathlon title at Madison, Wisconsin, with a score of 5400.
Thereafter, she only contested two more heptathlons, notching a creditable fourth place twice at the end of season Decastars meet in Talence in 2004 and 2012, on the latter occasion with a lifetime best haul of 5880 points.
After taking javelin silver with 56.76m at the 2002 Czech Championships in Ostrava, Spotakova opened the circle of her major championship career in the arena where she was to close it 20 years later - narrowly missing the cut for the final at that year&rsquo;s European Championships in Munich&rsquo;s Olympiastadion.
Surprisingly, given the success she went on to enjoy at world level, Spotakova only managed two European Championships titles &ndash; in Zurich in 2014 and in Amsterdam two years later &ndash; plus a silver in Gothenburg in 2006 and bronzes in Barcelona in 2010 and in Munich last year.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/e3fd1812-c7a9-454b-8489-65750cbd3eb9.jpg" alt="Barbora Spotakova on her way to winning European javelin gold in Zurich" />
Barbora Spotakova on her way to winning European javelin gold in Zurich (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
That was, however, two continental crowns more than her celebrated compatriot Jan Zelezny, who succeeded Cerny as her coach, managed to gain during a trailblazing career as a three-time world and Olympic javelin champion and world record-breaker.
In all, Spotakova claimed five global championship golds, the first of them at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. She broke her Czech record twice in the final, throwing 66.40m and 67.07m to beat German favourite Christina Obergfoll.
Her golden streak continued at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, snatching victory and the European record with 71.42m in the final round. In doing so, the Czech moved up to second place on the world all-time list, behind the 71.54m of Osleidys Menendez, but in her final competition of the year, at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, she eclipsed the Cuban&rsquo;s world record with a monster throw of 72.28m.
<h2>Coach Zelezny&nbsp;</h2>
Spotakova took silver behind Germany&rsquo;s Steffi Nerius at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin but in 2011, with Zelezny now guiding her, she regained the world title in Daegu, throwing 71.58m, the second-best mark of her career.
Her two other global titles both came in London, five years apart: at the 2012 Olympics and 2017 World Championships. She also earned bronze at the 2016 Olympics, becoming the first woman in history to win three Olympic medals in the javelin.
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Barbora Spotakova in the javelin at the London 2012 Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
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Despite taking breaks in 2013 and 2018 to give birth to her sons, Spotakova managed to maintain her major championship medal-winning form right through to the end of her marathon career.
In 2021 she made her fifth Olympic appearance, narrowly failing to qualify for the final in Tokyo, but in Munich a year later she mustered a 60.68m throw to sign off in style at the 2022 European Championships &ndash; earning bronze at the age of 41, behind teenagers Elina Tzengko of Greece and Adriana Vilagos of Serbia.
&ldquo;I hope I&rsquo;ve been able to show that you can last long in the javelin,&rdquo; said the one-time track and field all-rounder. &ldquo;I hope I have shown that my technique looks easy &ndash; like you don&rsquo;t have to be a weightlifter or a very strong person.&rdquo;
That Spotakova happens to be an inspiration was clear when Haruka Kitaguchi won the 2023 world title in Budapest.
Asked which javelin thrower she admired the most, whose performances she studied the most, the Japanese thrower, who trains in Czechia, replied: &ldquo;Barbora Spotakova.
&ldquo;I love Barbora Spotakova. I love that I am training in the Czech Republic, her country.&rdquo;
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage

Barbora Spotakova is one of the all-time greats of track and field