Kim Mickle World Championship Preview
The waiting is nearly over for WAIS javelin thrower Kim Mickle, with her World Championship campaign starting on Friday in qualifying.
The 2013 IAAF Athletics World Championships in Moscow has again thrown up its usual mix of heroics, fanfare and shocks, with Usain Bolt’s victory in the men’s 100m sprint taking most of the headlines.
From an Australian perspective, Jared Tallent has won the country’s only medal to date with a bronze medal in the men’s 50km race walk. There has been a series of impressive performances from debutant Aussies, but much of the focus now rests on Olympic Champion Sally Pearson and one of Australian athletics’ form athletes Kim Mickle.
Mickle will take to the stadium in Russia on Friday for the qualification rounds of the women’s javelin, hoping to move through to Sunday’s final, which will be held at 8.00pm Perth time.
The 28 year-old has been named vice captain of the Australian Flame team and will compete with a great deal of attention, after Athletics Australia High Performance Director Eric Hollingsworth labelled her Australia’s form field athlete.
Mickle is ranked sixth internationally in 2013, with many of the world’s best throwers in Moscow, setting the prospect of a mouth-watering final, should all of the big guns progress.
Mickle will line up against some of the greats of the sport, namely native and reigning world champion Maria Abakumova and German Christina Obergfoll – who has the second highest recorded throw for the year.
The notable omission is Czech world record holder and Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova – who will miss the championships on maternity leave.
The challenge for Mickle is a significant one. Four throwers have bested 65m in 2013, with any throw in this territory likely to medal.
Mickle threw a personal best in Paris earlier this year of 64.35m and has subsequently medalled at every event she has competed in thus far in 2013, including Diamond League meets against top quality fields.
Linda Stahl (Germany), Huihui Lu (China) and Sinta Ozolina-Kovala (Latvia) stand as the other peak performers for the year in what promises to be one of the most keenly fought titles in recent memory.
No thrower has cleared 70m this year, meaning there is no clear favourite. The likelihood is, the medallists will be anointed from the names listed above, and for the first time, Australia’s Kim Mickle can justifiably place her name squarely in that mix.
2013 Best:
1) Maria Abakumova (69.34m)
2) Christina Obergföll (67.70m)
3) Linda Stahl (65.76m)
4) Huihui Lu (65.76m)
5) Sinta Ozolina-Kovala (64.38m)
6) Kim Mickle (64.35m)
Championship Record: Maria Abukumova – 71.99m (Daegu, South Korea 2011)
World Record: Barbora Spotakkova – 72.28m (Stuttgart, Germany 2008)