is a Japanese female

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er. She is the reigning

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

and world champion in women's javelin throw.

Early life and career

Kitaguchi won an individual gold medal at the Youth World Championships and has set Japanese national records in the discipline, throwing 66.00 m at the Honjo Athletic Stadium in Kitakyushu in 2019 and 67.38 m at the

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

event in Brussels in 2023. At the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

she won a bronze medal, which made her the first Japanese woman to win a medal in any throwing event at a World Championships or Olympics. In 2023, in her best achievement to that point, she won the gold medal in javelin throw, in her 6th and final throw at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Kitaguchi continued her dominance in the discipline when she claimed gold in the javelin event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In addition to English, Kitaguchi understands and speaks Czech. She lives and trains with Czech trainer David Sekerák in

Domažlice Domažlice (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...

, Czech Republic. In January 2024, she received a commemorative medal of the town of Domažlice.

Competition record

References

External links

* *
Haruka Kitaguchi – Paris 2024
at JAAF
Haruka Kitaguchi – Tokyo 2020
at JAAF * *
Haruka Kitaguchi
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

* * 1998 births Living people Japanese female javelin throwers Japan Championships in Athletics winners World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners Olympic female javelin throwers Olympic athletes for Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Japan Diamond League winners Sportspeople from Asahikawa Athletes from Hokkaido 21st-century Japanese sportswomen {{Japan-javelinthrow-athletics-bio-stub