Elvīra Ozoliņa

Elvīra Ozoliŋa was the top female javelin thrower in the early 1960s, when she set three world records – 57.92 and 59.55 in 1960, and 59.78 in 1963 – and was also the first woman to threw the javelin over 60 metres, when she threw 61.38 at the 1964 Soviet Championships (the first women’s throw over 200 feet), but this mark was never ratified as a world record by the IAAF. Ozoliŋa won Olympic gold in 1960 and was heavily favored at the 1964 Olympics, but finished only fifth, which left her so disappointed that she had all her hair shaved off by a Japanese hairdresser.

Ozoliŋa was the 1962 European Champion and also competed at the 1966 European Championships (5th) and 1971 European Championships (12th). She won the Summer Universiade gold in 1959 and silver in 1963 and was the Soviet Champion in 1961-62, 1964, 1966, and 1973. In 1969 Ozoliŋa married another Soviet-Latvian javelin thrower Jānis Lūsis, who won the Olympic gold in 1968 (and four European titles) and their son Voldemārs Lūsis also became a javelin thrower, participating at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

Personal Best: JT – 63.96 (1973).