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. 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. 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. She won her first national title in 1983 and would go on to win a total of 14.
During her career, Hattestad had many injuries; she experienced fractures in both arms and required seven elbow surgeries. She began athletics when she was twelve; initially she competed in shot put, but she found javelin throwing more interesting.
Competition record
<nowiki>*</nowiki>All results with the old model javelin unless noted.
{|
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing
|-
|1983
|European Junior Championships
|Schwechat, Austria
|bgcolor=silver|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
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|69.18 m
|-
|rowspan=2|1994
|Goodwill Games
|St. Petersburg, Russia
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|65.74 m
|-
|European Championships
|Helsinki, Finland
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|68.00 m
|-
|1996
|Olympic Games
|Atlanta, United States
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|64.98 m
|-
|1997
|World Championships
|Athens, Greece
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|68.78 m
|-
|1998
|European Championships
|Budapest, Hungary
|4th
|63.16 m
|-
|1999
|World Championships
|Seville, Spain
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|66.06 m
|-
|2000
|Olympic Games
|Sydney, Australia
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|68.91 m