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 sixth on the overall list.
Hattestad made her international debut at a match between Norway, Sweden, and Finland.[1] She competed at the 1981 European Junior Championships, finishing fifth.[2] The following year, at the age of just 16, she competed in the European Championships for seniors, though she did not qualify for the final.[3] She won her first national title in 1983 and would go on to win a total of 14.[1]
She participated in both the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.[1][4]
In 1989, she was suspended after a positive doping test; however, her suspension was overturned, and she was cleared of doping.[1] She argued that her hormonal contraception had caused the positive test and sued the Norwegian Athletics Association for loss of earnings during her suspension.[4]
At the 1992 Summer Olympics, she came in fifth. In 1993, she won her first major international title, the World Championships in Stuttgart as well as the IAAF Golden Four. The next year, she added the 1994 European title.[1]
After giving birth to her second child in 1995, she competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where she won the bronze medal. The following year, she won a second World title at the 1997 World Championships.[1]
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.[4]
During her career, Hattestad had many injuries; she experienced fractures in both arms and required seven elbow surgeries.[1]
Hattestad's parents were both handball players, and she took up the sport herself at age 6 and played for a 2nd division team.[5] She began athletics when she was twelve; initially she competed in shot put, but she found javelin throwing more interesting.[1][5]
She has four children with her former husband Anders Hattestad. They divorced in 2017.[6]
*All results with the old model javelin unless noted.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Norway
| |||||
| 1983 | European Junior Championships | Schwechat, Austria | 2nd | 61.40 m | |
| 1984 | Olympic Games | Los Angeles, United States | 5th | 64.52 m | |
| 1986 | European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | 9th | 59.52 m | |
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 24th (q) | 55.30 m | |
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 18th (q) | 58.82 m | |
| 1991 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 5th | 63.36 m | |
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 5th | 63.54 m | |
| 1993 | World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 1st | 69.18 m | |
| 1994 | Goodwill Games | St. Petersburg, Russia | 1st | 65.74 m | |
| European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 68.00 m | ||
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 3rd | 64.98 m | |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 1st | 68.78 m | |
| 1998 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 4th | 63.16 m | |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 3rd | 66.06 m[7] | |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 68.91 m[7] | |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's javelin throw | |
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