Beijing: Norway's Andreas Thorkildsen won his second consecutive Olympic men's javelin title on Saturday with an Olympic record throw of 90.57 meters.
Latvia's Ainars Kovals was second at 86.64m with Finland's Tero Pitkamaki, the reigning world champion, taking third with a throw of 86.16m.
Thorkildsen, a two-time world runner-up, broke the former Olympic mark of 90.17m set by Czech Jan Zelezny in 2000 at Sydney.
"I was in shape today," Thorkildsen said. "It has been a strange season, but I knew I could get the distance. I was doing it in practice but not in competition. So I chose the right time and place to put it all together."
The Norwegian made the winning throw in the fifth round and skipped his final attempt after Pitkamaki, the only rival who could beat him, came up short on his final attempt.
Kovals waited until the sixth and final round to unleash his best throw, passing Pitkamaki for the silver. The Finn improved his distance on his final throw but could not overtake the Latvian to move up.
"Of course I'm a little bit disappointed. I wanted a gold medal," Pitkamaki said. "But I'm happy. It's an OK result for this season. I have had a lot of problems and injuries."
Women's high jump
Belgium's Tia Hellebaut won the Olympic women's high jump gold medal on Saturday by clearing 2.05 meters.
World indoor champion Blanka Vlasic of Croatia second on 2.05 after missing three times at matching her career best 2.07.
Russia's Anna Chicherova was third after clearing 2.03m.
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