Emotions spilled over inside Stade de France on Wednesday as Australia’s reigning bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barber missed the Olympic javelin final.
Just minutes after 42-year-old marvel Kathryn Mitchell progressed alongside rising star Mackenzie Little in Group A, their fellow Aussie fell short in Group B after a season ravaged by an injury she has kept secret.
Barber, on the podium in Tokyo three years ago and a two-time world champion, was sidelined from competition in the lead-up to Paris and turned her attentions solely to making it to the Olympics.
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The 32-year-old was only officially selected a month ago.
“Thank you to all who have been there and stood by me this year. Time to let the javelin fly,” Barber wrote ahead of the final.
Barber warmed into proceedings with a 56.32m on her first throw but could only marginally improve on that effort with a season-best 57.73m on her second.
A noted clutch performer who won her first world title and the Tokyo bronze with her final throws, there was no last roll of the dice in Paris.
Barber let rip but a wry smile quickly told the story, and the 56.56m measurement confirmed she would not progress to the medal round.
She embraced her husband and coach Mike over the fence, wiping away tears and sharing a smile as they reflected on the end of the tough journey.
There were tears after Group A for altogether different reasons when Mitchell and Little celebrated together.
Both only needed two throws to surpass the 62m standard required for automatic qualification, Little finishing sixth best with 62.82m and Mitchell throwing 62.40m — a season best.
Mitchell is now into her fourth Olympic final in a row after finishing eighth at London 2012 and sixth at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo three years ago.
But this one is perhaps sweetest of all after a difficult past 12 months.
Mitchell tore her adductor while warming up for the final at the 2023 world championships and had to withdraw.
In April this year, she ruptured her soleus — a calf muscle — on her first throw at a Diamond League event in China.
“When I left the field of play I felt despair about the prospect of getting myself back up again… but alas, I’ve since met that head on with ‘f*** you, challenge accepted’. For what lays ahead, it is worth it,” Mitchell wrote.
Mitchell locked in after securing her spot in the team, signing off from social media a full three weeks before her qualification round, and it paid off.
Little, who finished eighth in her first Olympic final at Tokyo and has since become a doctor, is right in the mix for a medal to go with her bronze result at the 2023 world championships.
The 27-year-old threw a new personal best of 66.27m just under three weeks ago in London.
