# Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's javelin throw

The women's javelin throw at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–21 August at the Beijing National Stadium.
The qualifying standards were 60.50 m (A standard) and 56.00 m (B standard).
Mariya Abakumova held the lead from her first throw, with Barbora Špotáková the only other competitor within 3 metres. Abakumova improved to 70.78 on her fourth throw. Christina Obergföll took third place, and Goldie Sayers took fourth (with a British national record); both of these positions were gained from their first round throws with no improvement thereafter. Then Špotáková threw 71.42 on her final throw to win the gold medal, with Abakumova taking silver.
Eight years after the competition, the IOC retested samples from the event in connection with the Russian doping scandal. Mariya Abakumova tested positive for chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (turinabol), so she was disqualified and stripped of her silver medal, which was reallocated to Christina Obergföll. On 26 July 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed the award of the bronze medal to Goldie Sayers.

## Schedule

All times are China standard time (UTC+8)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Tuesday, 19 August 2008 | 09:00 | Qualifications |
| Thursday, 21 August 2008 | 19:20 | Finals |

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading mark were as follows:
| World record | Osleidys Menéndez (CUB) | 71.70 | Helsinki, Finland | 14 August 2005 |
| Olympic record | Osleidys Menéndez (CUB) | 71.53 | Athens, Greece | 27 August 2004 |
| World Leading | Barbora Špotáková (CZE) | 69.15 | Zaragoza, Spain | 31 May 2008 |
No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

## Results
### Qualifying round

Qualification: 61.50 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Group | Athlete | Nationality | #1 | #2 | #3 | Result | Notes |
| 1 | A | Barbora Špotáková | Czech Republic | 67.69 | | | 67.69 | Q |
| 2 | B | Christina Obergföll | Germany | 67.52 | | | 67.52 | Q |
| 3 | A | Steffi Nerius | Germany | 59.15 | 59.74 | 63.94 | 63.94 | Q |
| DSQ | A | Mariya Abakumova | Russia | 61.23 | 63.48 | | 63.48 | Q |
| 5 | B | Goldie Sayers | Great Britain | 60.79 | 62.99 | | 62.99 | Q |
| 6 | B | Barbara Madejczyk | Poland | 62.81 | | | 62.81 | Q, SB |
| 7 | A | Mercedes Chilla | Spain | 56.98 | 61.81 | | 61.81 | Q, SB |
| 8 | A | Zhang Li | China | 58.30 | 61.77 | | 61.77 | Q |
| 9 | B | Katharina Molitor | Germany | 55.65 | 53.50 | 60.92 | 60.92 | q |
| 10 | B | Felicea Moldovan-Tilea | Romania | 53.25 | 55.89 | 60.81 | 60.81 | q |
| 11 | A | Osleidys Menéndez | Cuba | 60.51 | x | 60.41 | 60.51 | q |
| 12 | A | Sinta Ozoliņa | Latvia | 60.13 | x | 52.62 | 60.13 | q, NR |
| 13 | B | Justine Robbeson | South Africa | 56.75 | 54.26 | 59.63 | 59.63 | |
| 14 | A | Urszula Piwnicka | Poland | 51.33 | 52.99 | 59.28 | 59.28 | |
| 15 | A | Savva Lika | Greece | 56.44 | 58.59 | 59.11 | 59.11 | |
| 16 | A | Vira Rebryk | Ukraine | 55.77 | 57.12 | 59.05 | 59.05 | |
| 17 | B | Mikaela Ingberg | Finland | 55.71 | 58.82 | 58.36 | 58.82 | |
| 18 | A | Chang Chunfeng | China | 58.42 | x | x | 58.42 | |
| 19 | B | Yanet Cruz | Cuba | 58.06 | 57.15 | 57.03 | 58.06 | |
| 20 | B | Lavern Eve | Bahamas | 55.22 | 57.36 | 55.15 | 57.36 | |
| 21 | B | Jarmila Klimešová | Czech Republic | 52.18 | 57.25 | x | 57.25 | |
| 22 | A | Nikolett Szabó | Hungary | 56.98 | 57.15 | x | 57.15 | |
| 23 | A | Natallia Shymchuk | Belarus | 55.56 | 57.11 | x | 57.11 | |
| 24 | A | Sílvia Cruz | Portugal | 54.65 | 57.06 | x | 57.06 | |
| 25 | B | Olha Ivankova | Ukraine | 55.63 | 51.98 | 57.05 | 57.05 | |
| 26 | B | Moonika Aava | Estonia | x | 56.94 | x | 56.94 | |
| 27 | A | Alessandra Resende | Brazil | 54.05 | 56.53 | 54.32 | 56.53 | |
| 28 | B | Buoban Pamang | Thailand | 53.69 | x | 56.35 | 56.35 | SB |
| 29 | B | Lindy Leveau-Agricole | Seychelles | 56.32 | 55.90 | 50.74 | 56.32 | SB |
| 30 | B | Erma-Gene Evans | Saint Lucia | 46.79 | 54.60 | 56.27 | 56.27 | |
| 31 | B | Maryna Novik | Belarus | 56.10 | x | 53.48 | 56.10 | |
| 32 | A | Inga Stasiulionyte | Lithuania | 55.66 | x | 55.34 | 55.66 | |
| 33 | A | Sunette Viljoen | South Africa | 53.14 | 55.58 | 53.82 | 55.58 | |
| 34 | B | Olivia McKoy | Jamaica | 55.51 | x | 53.85 | 55.51 | |
| 35 | B | Tetyana Lyakhovych | Ukraine | 55.50 | x | 53.59 | 55.50 | |
| 36 | A | Anastasiya Svechnikova | Uzbekistan | 55.31 | x | 48.71 | 55.31 | |
| 37 | A | Martina Ratej | Slovenia | 55.30 | 51.56 | 53.24 | 55.30 | |
| 38 | B | Kim Kreiner | United States | 55.13 | 53.81 | 53.48 | 55.13 | |
| 39 | A | Zuleima Aramendiz | Colombia | 51.30 | 54.71 | x | 54.71 | |
| 40 | A | Monica Stoian | Romania | x | 54.56 | x | 54.56 | |
| 41 | A | Kara Patterson | United States | 54.00 | 50.35 | 54.39 | 54.39 | |
| 42 | B | Song Dan | China | 53.11 | 54.32 | x | 54.32 | |
| 43 | A | Nadeeka Lakmali | Sri Lanka | x | 53.44 | 54.28 | 54.28 | |
| 44 | A | Christina Scherwin | Denmark | 53.95 | x | x | 53.95 | SB |
| 45 | B | Alexandra Nasta-Tsisiou | Cyprus | 53.24 | x | 47.18 | 53.24 | |
| 46 | A | Gim Gyeong-ae | South Korea | 51.46 | 48.00 | 53.13 | 53.13 | |
| 47 | B | Mariya Yakovenko | Russia | 47.90 | 51.67 | 50.49 | 51.67 | |
| 48 | A | María González | Venezuela | 48.37 | 50.51 | 42.32 | 50.51 | |
| 49 | B | Serafina Akeli | Samoa | 47.83 | 42.78 | 49.26 | 49.26 | |
| 50 | B | Ásdís Hjálmsdóttir | Iceland | x | x | 48.59 | 48.59 | |
| 51 | B | Leryn Franco | Paraguay | 45.34 | x | 43.77 | 45.34 | |
| 52 | B | Rumyana Karapetrova | Bulgaria | 40.15 | - | - | 40.15 | |
| | A | Zahra Bani | Italy | x | x | x | NM | |
| | B | Tatjana Jelaca | Serbia | x | x | x | NM | |
* AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season)
* DNS = did not start | DQ = disqualification | NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result) | Q = qualification by place in heat | q = qualification by overall place

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Result | Notes |
| | Barbora Špotáková | Czech Republic | 69.22 | 67.04 | x | 64.92 | x | 71.42 | 71.42 | AR |
| | Christina Obergföll | Germany | 66.13 | x | 63.34 | x | x | x | 66.13 | |
| | Goldie Sayers | Great Britain | 65.75 | 59.40 | 62.92 | 59.72 | 65.03 | 56.83 | 65.75 | NR |
| 4 | Steffi Nerius | Germany | 64.05 | 62.25 | 59.97 | x | x | 65.29 | 65.29 | |
| 5 | Osleidys Menéndez | Cuba | 63.35 | x | x | x | x | x | 63.35 | |
| 6 | Barbara Madejczyk | Poland | 58.74 | 59.16 | 58.67 | x | 58.21 | 62.02 | 62.02 | |
| 7 | Katharina Molitor | Germany | 53.19 | 57.37 | 59.64 | 58.81 | 56.72 | 57.00 | 59.64 | |
| 8 | Mercedes Chilla | Spain | x | 57.94 | 58.13 | | | | 58.13 | |
| 9 | Zhang Li | China | 54.69 | x | 56.14 | | | | 56.14 | |
| 10 | Sinta Ozoliņa | Latvia | 50.67 | 53.38 | 52.23 | | | | 53.38 | |
| 11 | Felicia Tilea-Moldovan | Romania | 53.04 | x | 52.80 | | | | 53.04 | |
| DSQ | Mariya Abakumova | Russia | 69.32 | 69.08 | x | 70.78 | x | 67.52 | DSQ | |