Trine Hattestad (Norway) took the gold in the javelin competition with her first throw of 68.78. However, the competition did not end there, as Joanna Stone (Australia) also threw 3 times over 68m. Stone produced three personal bests in Athens, one in qualification and then two in today's competition. Stone got a result of 68.16 in 2nd round to move into second place and then another pb of 68.64 in the 5th round. Her 6th round effort was also long, 68.60. Hattestad used all the power she had on her first attempt as her 2nd best throw was only 66.32.
Third was taken by Tanja Damaske of Germany with her last throw of 67.12, a personal best. She took that position away from Felicia Tilea (Romania), who had been in that position since round three. Tilea finished 5th with a mark of 64.90. Bronze did not come easy as also Mikaela Ingberg (Finland) entered the fight with her last throw, but it was not enough as the javelin landing at 66.00.
Heli Rantanen of Finland, the 1996 Olympic champion, was unable to make it to last three rounds. She threw only 62.64 and finished in 10th place.
