Season’s Best for Mickle in New York
Western Australian Institute of Sport javelin thrower Kim Mickle has thrown a season’s best 63.93m in her first international competition for 2013, finishing third at the IAAF Diamond League meet in New York.
In her first of two competitions during an 11 day spell in the US, Mickle produced an impressive series of throws to take third place amongst a world class field of athletes that included Olympic silver medallist Christina Obergfoll and current world champion Mariya Abakumova.
Mickle was pleased with her New York performance, particularly overcoming a few unexpected challenges.
“New York went really well. The conditions were very cold and we had a few hiccups warming up because of delays in the women’s discus so to come away with what were two season best performances was fantastic,” said the eight time national champion.
Mickle produced a first round throw of 61.09m before taking the competition lead at the halfway point with a season’s best throw of 63.93m on her third attempt.
Obergfoll leapfrogged Mickle in the fourth round, after the German registered a throw of 65.33m that would be enough for the Big Apple victory. Mickle added a third 60m plus attempt in the sixth and final round after recorded 63.22m, but she was pushed into third after the Russian Abakumova sent a final throw of 64.25m for second place.
Following a strong start to her international season, Mickle identified a medal challenge at this year’s world championships in Moscow as the next step.
“I definitely want to improve on my Daegu (sixth at the 2011 World Championships) result in Moscow. A medal would be absolutely amazing. And I am very keen to enjoy a solid season on the Diamond League circuit. Now that I have a taste for the points on offer I am keen to be accepted to throw in Paris and London before heading into team camp in Tonbridge, and then post World Championships hopefully make the Diamond League final,” Mickle said.
“The throwers (in the Australian team) are performing fantastically at the moment and that is a great thing. I can only speak for myself really, but the biggest driver for me this year is the disappointment of London and I think in some ways it is probably driving people like Benn, Dani and Julian. We were all a little less successful than we probably would have liked in London and in some ways the form we wanted at the Olympics is something that we are working very hard to have now. It’s redemption for what could have been, in a way.
“I love training and I’m sure the others do too. We are spurred on and have come back to competition looking to let rip. It’s awesome that everyone is having a huge crack and hopefully the results continue.”
The Diamond League next moves to Eugene, Oregon where Mickle will again be in action. Mickle’s 63.93m effort was a third A-Qualifier for this year’s World Championships in Moscow (10-18 August), with the 28 year-old currently one of Australian athletics’ form competitors ahead of this year’s showpiece event.
– with Athletics Australia