WCH Tokyo 25 brushstroke (© World Athletics)
Last three sets of World Athletics Championships medallists
2023 – 1 Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) 66.73m, 2 Flor Ruiz (COL) 65.47m, 3 Mackenzie Little (AUS) 63.38m
2022 – 1 Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS) 66.91m, 2 Kara Winger (USA) 64.05m, 3 Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) 63.27m
2019 – 1 Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS) 66.56m, 2 Liu Shiying (CHN) 65.88m, 3 Liu Huihui (CHN) 65.49m
Last two sets of Olympic medallists
2024 – 1 Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) 65.80m, 2 Jo-Ane Van Dyk (RSA) 63.93m, 3 Nikola Ogrodníková (CZE) 63.68m
2020 – 1 Liu Shiying (CHN) 66.34m, 2 Maria Andrejczyk (POL) 64.61m, 3 Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS) 64.56m
Longest winning marks in World Athletics Championships history (with current spec javelin)
71.70m – Osleidys Menéndez (CUB), 2005
71.58m – Barbora Špotáková (CZE), 2011
69.53m – Osleidys Menéndez (CUB), 2001
Shortest winning mark in World Athletics Championships history (with current spec javelin)
66.52m – Miréla Manjani (GRE), 2003
Best marks on Japanese soil (with current spec javelin)
67.12m 1 Liu Shiying (CHN) - Osaka 20.05.2018
67.07m 1 Barbora Spotakova (CZE) - Osaka (World Championships) 31.08.2007
66.47m 1 Liu Shiying (CHN) - Kawasaki 21.05.2017
Best marks on Asian soil (with current spec javelin)
71.58m 1 Barbora Spotakova (CZE) - Daegu (World Championships) 02.09.2011
71.42m 1 Barbora Spotakova (CZE) - Beijing (Olympics) 21.08.2008
69.82m 1 Olisdeilys Menéndez (CUB) - Beijing (Universiade) 29.08.2001
Biggest winning margins
4.88m 1987 – 76.64m Fatima Whitbread (GBR), 71.76m Petra Felke (GDR)
3.75m 2001 – 69.53m Osleidys Menéndez (CUB), 65.78m Miréla Tzelíli (GRE)
3.38m 1993 – 69.18m Trine Hattestad (NOR), 65.80m Karen Forkel (GER)
Smallest winning margins
0.10m 1991 – 68.78m Xu Demei (CHN), 68.68m Petra Meier (GER)
0.14m 1997 – 68.78m Trine Hattestad (NOR), 68.64m Joanna Stone (AUS)
0.51m 2017 – 66.76m Barbora Špotáková (CZE), 66.25m Li Lingwei (CHN)
Best mark by round
Qualifying – Mariya Abakumova (RUS), 2013
Final – Osleidys Menéndez (CUB), 2005
Multiple winners
1993/97 - Trine Hattestad (NOR)
2001/05 - Osleidys Menendez (CUB)
2007/11/17 - Barbora Spotakova (CZE)
2019/22 - Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS)
Winners by country
3 - Germany
3 - Czechia
2 - Norway
2 - Greece
2 - Cuba
2 - Australia
1 - Japan
1 - Finland
1 - Great Britain
1 - China
1 - Belarus
Five historic facts
- Haruka Kitaguchi (JPN) won only Japan's eighth gold medal in World Championships history in Budapest in 2023. She became the first Japanese woman to win a world title in an event other than the marathon (gold in 1993, 1997)
- There is a precedent of home athletes winning the women's javelin title: Tiina Lillak (FIN) won gold in Helsinki in 1983 and Steffi Nerius (GER) won gold in Berlin in 2009
- Two world javelin finals have been won with 70 metre-plus throws with the current specfication javelin (from 1999 onwards)
- Flor Ruiz (COL) became just the second Colombian woman to win a world medal after triple jumper Caterine Ibarguen with silver in 2023
- The 1991 World Championships women's javelin final produced the closest world final to date with just 10 centimetres separating the gold and silver medallists
Potential storylines
- Can Victoria Hudson (AUT) become the first Austrian to win a gold medal at the World Championships in any event? She leads the world list with 67.76m. Her gold at the European Championships in Rome last year was Austria's first since 1971
- Can Kitaguchi become just the fifth javelin thrower to win multiple titles in the women's javelin?
- After Julia Paternain's (URU) surprise bronze in the marathon, can 21-year-old Manuela Rotundo spring another surprise? She has thrown 64.17m this year
- Irene Jepkemboi (KEN) will make history by becoming the first Kenyan woman to compete in a field event in World Championships history
- Andrea Zelezna (CZE), the wife of world record-holder Jan Zelezny, is also on the entry-list
- The automatic qualifying distance to reach the final is 62.50m
