Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Croatian |
Born | Ludbreg, Croatia | 22 June 1995
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Croatia |
Sport | Track and field |
Event | Javelin throw |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal bests | NR 68.43 (2017) |
Medal record |
Sara Kolak (born 22 June 1995) is a Croatian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She is an Olympic champion and won the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. [1] Kolak is also a European Championships bronze medallist and European U23 champion. She holds the Croatian record with a personal best throw of 68.43 m, set in 2017. It also ranks her tenth on the world all-time list. Kolak is a three-time Olympian and competed at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Kolak made her junior international debut at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona. She won bronze medals at the 2013 European Junior Championships in Rieti and 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene. [2] [3] [4] Kolak made her senior international debut at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich. That same year, she underwent surgery for a shoulder injury and was sidelined for 15 months. [5] She won the bronze medal in the javelin throw at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam. [2]
Kolak won the gold medal in the women's javelin throw event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, where she also set a new national record with a throw of 66.18 metres. [5] She bested her record the following year with a 68.43 m throw at Athletissima in Lausanne. [6] She won the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 2017 European U23 Championship in Bydgoszcz and placed fourth in the javelin throw at the 2017 World Championships in London.
Following the 2017 World Championships, Kolak struggled with an elbow injury. The Croatian Olympic Committee approved a $150,000 funding for her surgery, [7] which was carried out in Minnesota. After the surgery, she underwent rehabilitation of the ligaments and returned to competition in the summer of 2019, [7] placing seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. In August 2019, she relocated from Slovenia to Norway in order to be coached by two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen. [8] Kolak competed in the javelin throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but failed to qualify for the final. [9] She placed eleventh at the 2024 European Championships in Rome and fourth in the javelin throw event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. [10]
Theresa Ione Sanderson is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the javelin throw at the 1984 Olympics. She was the second track and field athlete to compete at six Olympics, and the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAAF Continental Cup winner. She has a personal best throw of 21.24 metres (69.7 ft) outdoors and 20.98 metres (68.8 ft) indoors. These marks are Oceanian, Commonwealth and New Zealand national records. She also holds the Oceanian junior record (18.93 m) and the Oceanian youth record (17.54 m), as well as the World Championships record, World Indoor Championships record and Commonwealth Games record.
Uwe Hohn is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is the only athlete to throw a javelin 100 metres or more, with his world record of 104.80 m. A new javelin design was implemented in 1986 and the records had to be restarted, thus Hohn's mark became an "eternal world record". He coached Indian track and field athlete Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold in the men's javelin throw at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo.
Katherine Dinah "Goldie" Sayers is a British former javelin thrower, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was born in Newmarket, Suffolk, England. On 20 May 2007, Sayers set a new British record in the javelin at 65.05 m, thus becoming the first British woman to throw over 65 metres since javelins were redesigned in 1999. Sayers set the record when competing for her university, Loughborough, at the Loughborough International match. She cemented this achievement at the Norwich Union Glasgow Grand Prix on 3 June 2007 where she beat a top-class international field in rainy conditions with a throw of 63.59 m. Defeated rivals included European champion and Olympic silver medallist Steffi Nerius and world champion Barbora Špotáková.
Antti Hermanni Ruuskanen is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a European Champion, having won gold in 2014. His personal best is 88.98 metres, which he set in 2015.
Sandra Elkasević is a Croatian discus thrower. She is a two-time Olympic and world champion and a record seven-time European champion which makes her the most decorated female discus thrower in history. She is also a seven-time Diamond League winner, prevailing in 46 circuit's meetings.
Kimberley Mickle is an Australian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Her personal best of 66.83 m, achieved on 22 March 2014 in Melbourne, was, until 2018, the Australian record.
Madeleine Hogan is a Paralympic athlete from Australia competing mainly in category F42/F46 javelin throw events. She has won bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.
Julius Yego is a Kenyan track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Nicknamed "Mr. YouTube" because he learned how to throw by watching YouTube videos of javelin athletes, Yego is the African record holder for the event with a personal best of 92.72 m.
Hollie Beth Arnold, is a British parasport athlete competing in category F46 javelin. Although born in Grimsby, she now lives and trains in Loughborough. She represents Wales in the Commonwealth Games.
Jakub Vadlejch is a Czech track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is a three-time Olympian for the Czech Republic, having competed in 2012, 2016 and 2020, winning a silver medal in 2020. He also has represented his country six times at the World Championships in Athletics, winning the bronze medal in 2022 and 2023 and silver medal in 2017, and six times a competitor at the European Athletics Championships, winning the silver medal in 2022 and the gold medal in 2024. He also won the 2016 Diamond League title, 2017 Diamond League title, and the 2023 Diamond League Title.
Marharyta Serhiïvna Dorozhon is an Israeli javelin thrower. Born and raised in Ukraine, she competed for that country until she became an Israeli citizen in 2014.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specialising in multi-event competition. She is the first athlete with three multi-event gold medals at the Olympic Games, winning the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. Her three individual Olympic golds in a row for a woman equals the record of Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland in the hammer and Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres Thiam is also the only Belgian athlete to successfully defend an Olympic title.
Thomas Röhler is a German track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is the 2016 Olympic Champion and 2018 European Champion. His personal best of 93.90 m for the event ranks him third on the overall list.
Croatia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Croatian Olympic Committee confirmed a roster of 87 athletes, 68 men and 19 women, to compete across 18 sports at the Games.
The women's javelin throw competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium on 16–18 August. Each athlete received three throws in the qualifying round. All who achieved the qualifying distance progressed to the final. Each finalist was allowed three throws in last round, with the top eight athletes after that point being given three further attempts.
Maria Magdalena Andrejczyk is a Polish track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. She is the 2020 Summer Olympics silver medalist and 2015 European Junior Champion. Her personal best of 71.40 m, set in 2021, is the Polish record as well as the third best result in the history of the women's javelin throw competition.
Johannes Vetter is a German athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He won gold at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. His personal best of 97.76 m is the German record, and ranks him second on the overall list behind Jan Železný. Vetter currently trains under Boris Obergföll and is a member of LG Offenburg's track and field squad. He was previously with SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken and Dresdner SC.
Subedar Major Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Considered as the greatest javelin thrower India has produced, Chopra won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian athlete in javelin throw to do so at Olympics. He is also the first Asian to win the javelin gold in the World Athletics Championships after his win in 2023. Chopra has won gold medals in almost every major javelin throw tournament. He has a streak of having a podium finish in 23 consecutive competitions, dating back to 2020. Since his 2016 performance, he holds the junior javelin throw world record with 86.48 m.
The women's javelin throw at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 7 and 10 August 2024. This was the 22nd time that the event was contested at the Summer Olympics.