Mitchell Watt (born 25 March 1988) is an Australian track & field athlete. His main event is the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

and holds the current Oceania record for the long jump – 8.54m. He was the first ever Australian long jump medalist at a World Championship and was the silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Track and Field Watt started his athletics career very early and first started getting attention as a schoolboy at

Brisbane Boys College (Let Honour Stainless Be) , established = 1902 , type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding , denomination = Presbyterian and Uniting Church , slogan = , headmaster = André Casson , city = Toowong , state = Queensland , country ...

, a prestigious private high school in Queensland. As a 13-year-old he competed in the

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

100 m, 200 m, 400 m relay, 100 m relay, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put and discus, winning all of his events bar discus with a respectable 4th. As a junior, he won the All-schools nationals in 1999 (long jump), 2000 (long jump), 2001 (long jump ational record triple jump ational recordand 100 m). Rugby Union and Australian Football Watt took an interest in Australian Football and Rugby Union in his later years of high school. He proved extremely versatile successful in both codes. In Australian Football he won two State Championships during high-school playing as ruckman. In Rugby Union, he played in the outside backs and was vice-captain of the 1st XV. He was a member of the State team (Queensland Schoolboys squad), a team which several current Australian Wallabies played in.

Career

Long Jump Watt's first major championship was the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

in Berlin where he won a bronze medal with a jump of 8.37. He backed this up with another bronze medal at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...

in Doha. He won the 2011 Australian long jump title with a personal best of 8.44 m, setting a stadium record at the Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium with the final jump of the final competition that was held at the venue. Watt won silver at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Daegu, with a jump of 8.33 m in an interesting competition where the winning jumps were made in the second round of jumping. The top three jumpers failed to improve on their first and second round jumps. He won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Diamond League

Watt was the 2011 Diamond League Trophy winner for the long jump, picking up the $40,000 bonus. He won in Shanghai, London, and also Stockholm where he set the Australian record, and had already secured victory before the Final in Zurich. He is the first and only Australian to ever win a Diamond League Trophy. He also finished the 2011 season with the longest 4 out of 5 jumps in the world.

Stadium records

Watt currently holds the following stadium/meeting records in the world: *Shanghai (Shanghai Stadium, China) - 8.44m *London (Crystal Palace Stadium) - 8.45m *Rethymno (Vardinoyannia, Greece) - 8.43m *Melbourne (Olympic Park, Australia) - 8.44m *New York (Icahn Stadium, United States of America) - 8.16m

Endorsements

Watt has proven popular with global sponsors. He has signed endorsements with Adidas, Powerade, Omega, Mitsubishi and Coles Supermarkets.

Personal life

Watt obtained his double degree in Law / Economics from University of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and now he currently resides in New York where he is a management consultant.https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-watt-61800221/

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Mitchell Australian male long jumpers 1988 births Living people People educated at Brisbane Boys' College Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Diamond League winners Sportspeople from Bendigo Sportsmen from Victoria (state)