Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's javelin throw

The women's javelin throw was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The qualifying round mark was set at 43.00m. Five athletes didn't surpass that distance in the heats.^[1]

Video on YouTube Official Video @1:04:05

Summary

Nadezhda Konyayeva entered as the world record holder, having set the record almost 3 years earlier. Dana Zátopková was the returning champion. The leading qualifier was 18 year old Karen Anderson, throwing 49.64m on her first attempt. But she was unable to match that in the final. On her first throw of the final, Inese Jaunzeme set the Olympic record with a 51.63m throw. Ingrid Almqvist moved into second with a 49.74m while Konyayeva was third. With a 50.28m in the second round, Konyayeva moved into second place, with Zátopková moving into third. The medal positions held until the fifth round when Marlene Ahrens threw 50.38m to leap from fifth place to silver. On her final attempt for punctuation, Jaunzeme added more than two meters, almost seven feet to the Olympic record, throwing 53.86 m (176 ft 8 in). Ahrens was the first Olympic medal for a Chilean woman.

Medalists

Gold	Inese Jaunzeme (URS)
Silver	Marlene Ahrens (CHI)
Bronze	Nadezhda Konyayeva (URS)

Final classification

RANK	NAME ATHLETE	DISTANCE
	Inese Jaunzeme (URS)	53.86 m
	Marlene Ahrens (CHI)	50.38 m
	Nadezhda Konyayeva (URS)	50.28 m
4.	Dana Zátopková (TCH)	49.83 m
5.	Ingrid Almqvist (SWE)	49.74 m
6.	Urszula Figwer (POL)	48.16 m
7.	Erzsébet Vígh (HUN)	48.07 m
8.	Karen Anderson (USA)	48.00 m
9.	Anna Wojtaszek (POL)	46.92 m
10.	Erika Raue (EUA)	45.87 m
11.	Marjorie Larney (USA)	45.27 m
12.	Yoriko Shida (JPN)	44.96 m
13.	Almut Brömmel (EUA)	44.67 m
14.	Amelia Wershoven (USA)	44.29 m
—	Paola Paternoster (ITA)	DNQ
—	Heather Innes (AUS)	DNQ
—	Margaret George (CAN)	DNQ
—	June Heath (AUS)	DNQ
—	Maureen Wright (AUS)	DNQ