Javelin winner Ekaterina Starygina at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Oregon 2014 (© Getty Images)
Russia’s Ekaterina Starygina threw 56.85m on her final attempt of the competition to seize women’s javelin gold over defending champion Sofi Flink of Sweden.
Flink took the first-round lead with a 55.29m throw, but she was surpassed in the second round by Starygina at 55.98m. Croatia’s Sara Kolak moved into second at 55.66m in the third round.
The order then remained unchanged through the fourth and fifth rounds. Then in the sixth round, Flink, a finalist at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, delivered a 56.70m throw which moved her into the lead.
Kolak, with her penultimate attempt, improved to 55.74m but not enough to improve her bronze medal.
Then Starygina, who had the final attempt by virtue of being the leader coming in to the round, delivered her winning 56.85m fling to retake the lead and relegate Flink to silver.
Starygina is the first Russian woman to win junior gold in the javelin.
Parker Morse for the IAAF
