Ultimate preview: women's javelin

World lead: 71.74m Yan Ziyi (CHN) Xiamen, 23 May2026 world list | world rankings

World record: 72.28m Barbora Špotáková (CZE) Stuttgart, 13 Sep 2008world all-time list | world record progression

Just one throw into her 2026 season, Yan Ziyi transformed the landscape of the women's javelin.

The Chinese teenager launched her spear out to 71.74m in Xiamen in May, smashing her own world U20 record and breaking the Asian and Diamond League records. It moved her to second on the world all-time list, just 54 centimetres shy of Barbora Špotáková's world record.

One day after turning 18, Yan had become only the sixth woman in history to surpass 70 metres. She has since shown that the performance was no one-off.

Yan won in Paris with 67.44m and Monaco with 68.75m before completing an unbeaten Diamond League campaign in Brussels last weekend. Trailing Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi after three rounds, Yan responded with 68.42m to win her first Diamond Trophy.

Kitaguchi produced her best throw of the season, 65.44m, to finish second and arrives in Budapest showing some of her strongest form of 2026. The Japanese star also won in Lausanne last month with 64.90m.

Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado has gone even farther this year. The 2023 world silver medallist threw a South American record of 67.34m in Santo Domingo last month and followed that with third place behind Yan and Kitaguchi in Brussels.

Adriana Vilagoš is another athlete finding form at the right time. The Serbian improved her season's best to 65.93m to win the Mediterranean Games in Taranto on 1 September, having previously finished on the podium behind Yan at several Diamond League meetings.

Sigrid Borge threw 65.00m for second behind Yan in Xiamen, while Anete Sietiņa and Mackenzie Little bring recent championship pedigree after claiming world silver and bronze respectively in Tokyo last year. Tori Moorby, seventh in that final, completes an eight-woman field with few weak links.

Yan has been the clear stand-out of 2026. With only four rounds at the Ultimate, however, there will be little margin for error as she chases another title – and perhaps the only mark left above her.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion