For Sarah Mitton, a world championship is some added excitement as she prepares for the Paris Olympics this summer.
The Brooklyn, N.S., native won her first global title last weekend with a gold medal in shot put at the world athletics indoor championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Mitton reset her national indoor record for the second time in less than two weeks in the process.
“It's actually nice to have a few days to let it sink in. I think in the heat of the moment, it's obviously just this really big, exciting moment,” said Mitton, who spent this week in her hometown with loved ones. “For me, it just means all the hard work and all the people who've been on my journey with me, we’re doing the right things and it’s all of coming together for us.
“It's just important for me to be able to share that with everyone and so happy to have been able to put that together at the right time and now, you know, just creating some more excitement as we head into Paris.”
Mitton threw a season-best 20.22 metres on her sixth and final attempt to seal the deal after hitting 20.20 on her fourth attempt. She had initially reset her previous Canadian indoor record of 19.80 with a 20.08 in Nehvizdy, Czech Republic, on Feb. 20.
The 27-year-old was up against a few others that she knows she’ll see at the Olympics and the victory serves as a morale boost.
“Beating anyone that you compete against on a regular basis, you then kind of see the result as like, ‘OK like I can do it,’” said Mitton, who remains undefeated in five indoor meets this year, is now eagerly anticipating the outdoor season ahead."
“Paris is obviously the most important, so (for) most of the athletes, this was the focus prior to that. So when you do it on the day of a major competition, you know that everybody's done their best to be in the best shape they can for that meet.”
Mitton was quick to point out that the Olympics, however, will be a “battle,” acknowledging that despite the strong competition in Glasgow, there were still “major players” who were not present at the indoor championships.
Coach Richard Parkinson said they’ll be back to work Monday looking to build on Mitton’s momentum.
“We’ve seen some pretty big throws, I think 21 metres is going to be a gold medal at Paris,” Parkinson said. “That's what we're working towards. … It's March, we're in pretty good shape, we've got five months to go.
“It's a good indicator, but we got a lot of work to go. We have a lot of work to do. So physically I'd like to get (her) a little stronger over the next few months and keep that going and I’d like to continue on the technical development.”
Mitton is coming off a 2023 season in which she won her third straight national title in July, her first global medal with a silver at worlds in August and gold at the Pan American Games in November.
Mitton now aims to continue building on being a consistent 20-metre thrower.
“My focus is always on consistency because that's what I think carries you through the major championships,” she said. “If you can be consistent and replicate what you do in training every day at the world stage, then when you get there it's just like another day, so you're not hoping for another big performance.
“I thought it was actually going to take a bigger throw at world indoors to steal the gold but when (Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye) stepped up and threw 20.19 in the first round, it was a moment you sit back and (think) ‘I could still trust that I can also throw 20 metres, like quite easily at a competition.’
“(And) ‘now I need to kind of like bear down figure out what I need to do today to be able to … just get a 20-metre mark out there.’ It just happened to be a little bit further which was great.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
