(Reuters) – An opening throw of 66.34 metres proved more than enough for China’s Liu Shiying to win Olympic gold in the women’s javelin yesterday as nobody in the field was able to launch a meaningful challenge.
Maria Andrejczyk of Poland won silver with a throw of 64.61 metres and Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia took bronze with 64.56, her best performance of the season.
Liu, who won silver at the 2019 World Championships, is China’s second athletics gold medallist at Tokyo so far after Gong Lijiao won the women’s shot put earlier this week.
“The most difficult thing for me was to have a breakthrough on my mind, although I improved my technique,” said Liu. Andrejczyk, fourth at the 2016 Games and the favourite after producing a world-leading 71.40 metres in May, struggled to find that form.
“It’s great, but honestly I craved for more. These five years (since Rio) were very difficult for me, because I had four operations. One was on my shoulder, one on the ankle, so it was a really tough time for me,” she said.
“I’m happy with that result. It’s my first medal on the senior level, but it’s not enough for me. I want more.”
Her silver nonetheless added to an impressive athletics medal haul for Poland, who have bagged four golds and eight medals overall.
The night marked a significant improvement for 2019 world champion Barber following a disappointing 2021 in which her season’s best prior to the Games was 61.09, a far cry from her personal best 67.70.
“This is a childhood dream, so I’m really soaking it in and enjoying the moment,” she said.
