Athletics at the 2012 London Summer Games:

German Betty Heidler had been world ranked #1 for the past two years and was slightly favored, but Russian Tatyana Lysenko had won the 2011 World Championships, and was expected to push her. Heidler would struggle as the level of throwing was high. She opened with 73.90 but that placed her only fourth at the end of the first round, led by Lysenko's 77.56. Heidler did not improve in rounds two or three and barely made the last three throws, placing only eighth at that point.

Round two opened with 2008 bronze medalist Zhang Wenxiu (CHN) throwing 76.34 to move into second. Poland's Anita Włodarczyk then threw 76.02 to move into third position behind Zhang and Lysenko. On round three Włodarczyk was displaced by Heidler's teammate Kathrin Klaas, who PRed with 76.05 to move into third. No changes in position occurred in the fourth round. Heidler opened the fifth round with what appeared to be her best mark of the day, one which would eventually get her a bronze medal, but not without some drama. Her mark had landed nearly on top of Lysenko's 77.12 from round four, the previous attempt, and the data system lost the measurement because the computer had been programmed not to accept consecutive marks of the same distance, feeling that odds against this were very high. Heidler was given a back-up throw but fouled it. Lysenko finished the round improving to 78.08, the eventual gold medal winning throw. In the final round, Włodarczyk moved up to the silver medal with a mark of 77.60, and held that spot when Zhang fouled. After all the throwers had finished, an official found Heidler's mark and it was re-measured at 77.12, good for the bronze medal.