Kathryn Mitchell (born 10 July 1982) is an Australian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. She has represented her country at three Olympic Games, finishing ninth in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and sixth in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. She won gold at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

with a throw of 68.92 m, a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

and

Oceanian Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...

record. It also ranks her ninth on the world all-time list.

Personal

Nicknamed Mitch, Mitchell was born on 10 July 1982 in

Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton is a large town in south-western Victoria, Australia, at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway. The Hamilton Highway connects it to Geelong. Hamilton is in the federal Division of Wannon, and is in the Southern ...

. She calls Casterton her hometown but lives in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

. She went to Casterton Primary School before going to high school at Casterton Secondary College and

Ballarat High School Ballarat High School is a government secondary school located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Buildings and grounds The school was originally opened on 16 April 1907 as a Continuation School located at 208 Sturt Street (directly opposite t ...

. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement and is working on an advance degree in Nutritional Medicine. She is a fitness services instructor and health consultant.

Athletics

Mitchell competes in javelin. As a fourteen-year-old, she started in the sport but did not begin to take the sport seriously until she was seventeen years old. She took up the sport after her sister borrowed a javelin from school to practice with it for a school event. Mitchell was coached by Lindsay Burgoyne in high school. At the start of high school, she broke the school record by . She was coached by Eric Hollingsworth from 2003 to 2009.

Uwe Hohn Uwe Hohn (born 16 July 1962) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is the only athlete to throw a javelin 100 metres or more, with his world record of . A new javelin design was implemented in 1986 a ...

has been her coach since 2010. She trains at Olympic Park in Melbourne and has a scholarship with the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succe ...

. She is a member of the Eureka Athletics Club. In 2006, Mitchell represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games, where she made the finals in the javelin, finishing sixth overall. She finished first at the 2008 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia. In 2010, she set a Victorian state record in the javelin. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

, she finished fifth. Prior to competing in India, she spent four weeks training in Germany. She finished second at the 2011 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia. In January 2012, she competed at an Athletics Victoria inter-club meet, where she made a throw of . While this distance would have qualified her for Olympics, the nature of the meet precluded it from counting. She finished second at the 2012 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia with a throw of , short of the Olympic A-Qualifying distance of . She finished third at the 2012 Ostrava Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic. At the event, she threw a personal best throw of . In April, she finished second at the 2012 St. Wendel World Class Meeting in Germany. She was selected to represent Australia in the javelin event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, where she qualified for the final in the women's javelin. Before departing for London, she participated in a Germany-based training camp. At the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, she placed 6th in the javelin throw final, with an effort of 64.36m. Mitchell competed at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, finishing fourth, with a best throw 36 cm less than that of bronze medal winning compatriot Kelsey-Lee Roberts. She improved on this performance at the 2018 Games, winning gold with a throw of 68.92m and setting a new Commonwealth Games record. At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Mitchell finished sixth with a throw of 61.82m.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Kathryn 1982 births Australian female javelin throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Living people Olympic athletes of Australia Olympic female javelin throwers People educated at Ballarat High School People from Hamilton, Victoria Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia) Victorian Institute of Sport alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women