2023 World Athletics Championships – Women's javelin throw

The women's javelin throw at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 23 and 25 August 2023.

Summary
There were a few surprises in the javelin. Defending champion Kelsey-Lee Barber barely made the final. Her final throw of the preliminary round getting the 12th spot. Later, her third throw in the finals barely reached 8th place and she wouldn't get any further luck.

Veteran Flor Ruiz's season best was 61.83m, dating back to March. Her personal best of 63.84m dated back to 2016. In the first round of the final, she launched a South American record. Only returning bronze medalist/world leader Haruka Kitaguchi, 61.78m and Olympic gold medalist Liu Shiying 61.66m, were able to get over 60 meters. Victoria Hudson threw 62.14m to start the second round, and Kitaguchi improved to 61.99m. Kitaguchi's third round effort of 63.00m put her into silver position. In the fourth round, Anete Kociņa moved into silver position with a 63.18m. Then in the final round Mackenzie Little jumped into the silver position with a 63.38m dropping Kitaguchi out of the medals. But Kitaguchi still had her last attempt and she used it to throw to leapfrog into the gold medal.

Records
Before the competition records were as follows:

Qualification standard
The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 63.80 m.

Schedule
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), was as follows:

Qualification
Qualification: Qualifying distance 61.50 (Q) or the 12 best athletes including ties (q) qualify to the final.

Final
The final started on 25 August at 20:20.