A medical student at Stanford, the reigning world champion and a veteran: Meet the THREE Aussie women through to the javelin finals at the Tokyo Games
- Mackenzie Little, Kelsey-Lee Barber and Kathryn Mitchell have made javelin final
- The first time Australia has had three finalists in an Olympic throwing event final
- Field includes world champ Barber, national champ Mitchell, while Little set a PB
- Find out the latest Tokyo Olympic news including schedule, medal table and results right here
A medical student, a reigning world champion and a javelin veteran have thrown themselves into the spotlight at the Tokyo Olympics
Australian trio Mackenzie Little, Kelsey-Lee Barber and Kathryn Mitchell are through to the women's javelin final on Friday night.
It's the first time Australia has had three finalists in an Olympic throwing event final.
A former medical student at Stanford University, Little, 24, from Sydney set a new personal best with her first ever attempt at the Olympics with a throw of 62.37m to qualify fourth for the final.
2019 world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (pictured) qualified third for the javelin final
Kelsey-Lee Barber is one of three Aussies threw to the women's javelin final in Tokyo
A 2013 World Youth Games champion, Little travelled to the US to study and compete at Stanford University, where she won two NCAA gold medals.
She has since returned home and is currently studying medicine at Sydney University.
Little has been flooded with messages from friends family watching back home in Australia after setting her PB in Tuesday's qualifying round.
Her previous PB thrown of 61.42m last October put her sixth on the Australian All-Time list.
Reigning 2019 world champion Barber, 29, was on the cusp of being eliminated from the event before saving her best for last with a season best 62.59m on her last attempt to qualify third.
Little-known Aussie Mackenzie Little (pictured) also qualified for the final with a new PB
Mackenzie Little (right) threw herself into contention for an Olympic medal on Tuesday
Mackenzie Little (middle) studied at Stanford University but has since returned to Sydney to continue her studies
Reigning Commonwealth Games and national champion Mitchell, 39, also progressed after qualifying 10th with a second attempt throw of 61.85m.
Barber, who finished second behind Mitchell at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast was relieved to make the final on her final throw.
Her PB of 67.70 metres was set in 2019 while Mitchell still holds the national record of 68.92m set at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
'I am sure my coach gets a heart attack, putting him in the hot seat,' Barber told Channel Seven afterwards.
'I had a flashback to the Commonwealth Games, where (my throws) were pretty, they were neat - there was just nothing on them.
'And I was not going out like that. That was my Rio experience and I was not having a repeat of that.
'It was time to get fired up, be a competitor, be a performer and put something out there. I am really happy I did that.'
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Barber described her form going into the Olympics as very up and down.
'I think the best way to describe the last couple of years has been character building, she said.
There's been things thrown at me that I would never have anticipated as an athlete and as a person, and I've had to find new ways to grow. I
'I am really happy to be here and I'm super, super excited for the final because, again, I said in Rio I would be back out here ready to fight for a medal and I'm so in that space.
Australian record holder Kathryn Mitchell (pictured left with former Olympic champion hurdler Sally Pearson) has progressed to her third final at Olympic level
Reigning Commonwealth and national champ Kathryn Mitchell qualified 10th for the final
Barber is coached by her husband Mike, whom she married three years ago.
Victorian-based Mitchell will be hoping it will be third time lucky in Tokyo after finishing ninth at the 2012 Olympics in London and sixth in Rio five years ago.
She hasn't seen much of her partner and coach Uwe Hohn in the last two years after being forced apart by the coronavirus pandemic.
She has been training in Australia while Hohn has been holed up in India as the national javelin coach there.
'It’s 18 months since I’ve seen him … it’s not unusual for us to be apart for chunks of time, but not this long,' Mitchell told the Age in April.
'It is normally a couple of months and then we would meet up in Europe somewhere, but obviously that all got shut down and it has all gone on and on.
'So it has been very difficult. But what do you do? These things happen. One of the hardest things, as an athlete, is you are used to being in control and these events happen and they are completely out of your control.'
Poland's Maria Andrejczyk is the top qualifier for Friday night's final with a throw of 65.24 metres while defending champion Sara Kolak from Croatia crashed out of contention with three fouls in shock exit.
The 2019 champion (left) is coached by Mike Barber (right), who is also her husband
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