Mercedes Chilla

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Chilla and the second or maternal family name is López.

Mercedes Chilla López (born January 19, 1980 in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz) is a javelin thrower from Spain. She has represented Spain at two Summer Olympics (2004 and 2008) and has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics. Chilla is the Spanish record holder for the event, with a best mark of 64.07 metres, and has won medals at the Mediterranean Games and the Ibero-American Championships.

Career

She first reached the international podium at the 2003 Summer Universiade, where she took the bronze medal. She attended her first Olympic competition at the 2004 Athens Games and she was 22nd overall. In 2005 she enjoyed success at the regional level with another javelin bronze at the 2005 Mediterranean Games and she improved on her previous global competition performance with a fifteenth place finish at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics.

Her 2006 season saw her gain a slew of European honours, starting with a bronze at the 2006 European Cup Winter Throwing and another third place finish at the 2006 European Cup. She completed a trio of bronze medal performances by reaching the podium at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. She capped off a successful season with a personal best and Spanish record throw of 63.20 metres at the Herculis meeting in August 2006.

She suffered a number of injuries between 2008 and 2010, interrupting her international career, but she still managed ninth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and eleventh place at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. She took the javelin gold at the 2010 Ibero-American Championships in Cádiz, nearing her top form with a winning throw of 62.39 m.^[1] Chilla improved her Spanish record the following week, throwing 64.07 m to win at the Liga de Clubes de División de Honor meeting in Valencia, Spain.^[2] This mark made her fifth in the world rankings and demonstrated her potential to return to the podium at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.^[3]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  Spain
2001	Universiade	Beijing, PR China	6th
2003	Universiade	Daegu, South Korea	3rd	[4]
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	22nd	58.45 m
2005	Mediterranean Games	Almería, Spain	3rd
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	15th	58.38 m
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	61.98 m
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	27th	53.64 m
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, PR China	9th	58.13 m
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	11th	56.68 m
2010	Ibero-American Championships	San Fernando, Spain	1st	62.39 m
	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	6th	61.40 m
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	17th	58.34 m

References

1. ^ Valiente, Emeterio (2010-06-07). Murer vaults 4.85m Area Record as Cuba and Spain dominate in San Fernando – Ibero-American Championships report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-07.
2. ^ Chilla bate su récord de jabalina. El Mundo (2010-06-12). Retrieved on 2010-06-23.
3. ^ 'I am feeling the same way as I did four years ago, when I won the medal in Göteborg,' says Spain's Chilla. European Athletics (2010-06-23). Retrieved on 2010-06-23.
4. ^ Athletics at the 2003 Summer Universiade, official results

External links

• IAAF profile for Mercedes Chilla
• sports-reference

Persondata
Name	Chilla, Mercedes
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1980-01-19
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death