Elsa Katrine Hattestad (née Solberg; born 18 April 1966) is a retired Norwegian track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. During her career, she was a European, World, and Olympic Champion, and broke the world record twice.[1] Her personal best, set in 2000, of 69.48 m is the Norwegian record. It also ranks her fifth on the overall list.
Career
Hattestad made her international debut at the 1981 European Junior Championships, finishing fifth. The following year, at the age of just 16, she competed in the European Championships for seniors. By the beginning of the 1990s, Hattestad was one of the best female javelin throwers in the world. In 1993, she won her first major international title, the World Championships in Stuttgart as well as the IAAF Golden Four. To that, she added the 1994 European title. At the 1996 AtlantaOlympic Games, she won the bronze medal. The following year, she regained the World Championships. At the 1999 World Championships, she lost the title again, finishing third, but in 2000 she won the only title missing in her career with a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney.[2]
Personal life
In her youth, she was a promising handball player in her country, playing for a club in the second tier of the Norwegian league system.
She has four children with her former husband Anders Hattestad. They divorced in 2017.[3]
Competition record
*All results with the old model javelin unless noted.
