Elsa Katrine Hattestad (née Solberg; born 18 April 1966) is a retired Norwegian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

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 ...

. During her career, she was a European, World, and Olympic Champion, and broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

twice. Her personal best, set in 2000, of 69.48 m is the Norwegian record. It also ranks her sixth on the overall list.

Career

Hattestad made her international debut at a match between Norway, Sweden, and Finland. She competed at the 1981 European Junior Championships, finishing fifth. The following year, at the age of just 16, she competed in the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

for seniors, though she did not qualify for the final. She won her first national title in 1983 and would go on to win a total of 14. She participated in both the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. In 1989, she was suspended after a positive doping test; however, her suspension was overturned, and she was cleared of doping. She argued that her

hormonal contraception Hormonal contraception refers to birth control methods that act on the endocrine system. Almost all methods are composed of steroid hormones, although in India one selective estrogen receptor modulator is marketed as a contraceptive. The original ...

had caused the positive test and sued the

Norwegian Athletics Association The Norwegian Athletics Association (, NFIF) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Norway, including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking. The association is a member of the Norwegian Olymp ...

for loss of earnings during her suspension. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

, she came in fifth. In 1993, she won her first major international title, the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

as well as the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Golden Four. The next year, she added the 1994 European title. After giving birth to her second child in 1995, she competed at the 1996

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, where she won the bronze medal. The following year, she won a second World title at the 1997 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 Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. During her career, Hattestad had many injuries; she experienced fractures in both arms and required seven elbow surgeries.

Personal life

Hattestad's parents were both

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

players, and she took up the sport herself at age 6 and played for a 2nd division team. She began athletics when she was twelve; initially she competed in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

, but she found javelin throwing more interesting. She has four children with her former husband Anders Hattestad. They divorced in 2017.

Competition record

*All results with the old model javelin unless noted.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hattestad, Trine 1966 births Living people Olympic athletes for Norway Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Norway Olympic bronze medalists for Norway Sportspeople from Lørenskog Athletes from Akershus Norwegian female javelin throwers World Athletics Championships athletes for Norway World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics IAAF Golden League winners European Athlete of the Year winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games 20th-century Norwegian sportswomen