JAVELIN thrower Kathryn Mitchell has made clear she is vying for a fourth Olympics.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Mitchell was confident she could make an impact in the Paris Games, which start a fortnight after her 42nd birthday.
The Ballarat athlete and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medallist has made a good start in the Australian domestic athletics season and still has time to strengthen her game ahead of nationals in April, then European-based IAAF Diamond League.
Mitchell won the javelin final in the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on February 15 with a throw of 62.12 metres - almost five metres on her nearest rival. This edges her closer to the Olympic qualifying standard of 64m.
"We've started well but have still got a few things to work out to get my health and body right," Mitchell said.
"It's getting harder and harder, obviously as my body is aging as an athlete. The important thing is to stay healthy and that's a continued effort in creativity.
"I'm focusing on strength now and that will transfer into allowing me to better the technical aspects.
"I'm feeling better than I have been and I'm in the best shape mentally and physically than I have been for about three or years."
Mitchell said the Olympics have been her ultimate dream since she was young.
A talented junior athlete, Mitchell moved from her Casterton home to complete year 12 at Ballarat High School while stepping up her sporting career.
Mitchell made her Commonwealth Games debut in the 2006 Melbourne Games but struggled to progress as an athlete until finding a coach and now partner in German Uwe Hohn - the only man to throw the javelin more than 100 metres.
Hohn reinvented her game.
Mitchell set herself a time frame to make her Olympic debut in the 2012 London Games, or give up the sport. She finished ninth in the final and it was a starting point.
The 2020 Tokyo Games, held in 2021, were tough for Mitchell, whose mother had been ill and died not long after. She had considered retiring, but then came the chance to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Mitchell threw 62.20m on her opening throw in the preliminary round to reach the final but her body could not hold up, due to a lack of training.
"It was hugely disappointing but I came away knowing I could still compete at that level - there was a little confidence still," Mitchell said.
Until this year, Mitchell had been training twice a week at the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne before an invitation to return to her alma mater Federation University made her realise the high performance facilities on her door step.
Mitchell, always a country girl, has loved the easy, friendly vibes at the Mount Helen campus.
Federation University health and sport centre's Eammon Gill said it was great to support such an elite athlete and former student about the centre.
"A lot of staff from our sports science programs are quite young and Kathryn is generous in her time with them," Gill said. "It's great for our students as well."
