From Little Things Big Things Throw | Mackenzie Little

Sat at the pinnacle of athletics is an Olympic final, a prestigious space reserved for only the world’s most talented and devoted to define the physical limits of the human race. For most it’s a lifelong and all-consuming endeavour, but for Mackenzie Little, it’s just “fun”.

On the surface her lifestyle is counterintuitive; why would an Olympic finalist approaching the prime of their career spend over 40 hours per week completing medical school placement? For some it ponders questions of priorities and potential, but personally the 25-year-old sees nothing but the perfect picture.

“When I am 60-years-old, I am not going to be throwing javelins. I find it really motivating to be able to go to training, work really hard and focus on that for two hours a day, and then to step aside and be in another realm,” Little says.

“Athletics has provided me with an incredible number of opportunities. I have gone and lived in the US and I have travelled the world for competitions, so I just try to be grateful for it and take all those opportunities while I can, knowing that it’s not going to last forever.”

Despite finishing in eighth place of last year’s Olympic final before building to a new career best of 63.18m to clinch the Oceania title earlier this month, it’s clear that Little is either unaware of just how good she is, or frankly unfazed by knocking on the door of stardom.    

“It’s hard because you see that even at the top level, success and reaping the rewards of your hard work can be fleeting – nothing is guaranteed. Even those big athletes have their off days, and people who have much better personal bests than I do are not guaranteed to throw that far,” Little says.

“I recognise that I am physically healthy and fit, and mentally in a good space in relation to athletics.”

The Australian says that much of her success can be accredited to her coach Angus McEntyre, with Little thriving under both the training program and team environment that McEntyre has built – allowing her to switch on and off as she balances a busy schedule.

“Angus is phenomenal! I come to training and ask what we are doing, he tells me, and we do it. I have a lot of trust in his programming which means I can focus on my life outside of athletics and not worry about training, because whatever he has planned will work,” Little says.

Little speaks fondly of Diamond League debut at Paris on Sunday having finished in fourth place with 61.23m, returning to the international scene to rub shoulders with the leading women in the javelin world ahead of the World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.

“It was really fun and completely surreal to be at the top competition that I could pretty much imagine, in the same event as the world record holder! It’s crazy to see the some of those faces and the crowds, even people signing photos,” Little says.

“Apart from that it was just another competition with people trying to do their best. The whole reason I came at the last minute having only found out last Sunday was because I just felt like I had to do this in case I never got invited to the Diamond League again.”

The Stanford graduate collected two NCAA titles in her time under the renowned academic and athletic regime, including one at Hayward Field in 2018, adding to the excitement of her looming World Championships berth – despite keeping her cards close to her chest.

“Angus and I certainly have firm goals and we do have those chats because it is important to have direction. I am having a really good season and in general I just want to compete like I know I can. What I learned from Tokyo is that I just need to do what I did to get there,” Little says.

Little says that continuing to raise the standard of what she considers to be a “bad day” will be pivotal in her international success throughout 2022, along with building throughout the sequence on competition day – confident that she can perform at a high level consistently.

With a typical day consisting of medical school placement from 8am-5pm before training from 6pm-8pm, it’s hard to fathom Little’s success both on and off the track – but the 25-year-old is adamant that she has her imperfections.

“The things that I am terrible at I have tried to work on to compensate. I’m really bad at remembering people’s names, I always repeat the name and look them in the eye, then it will be completely gone,” Little says.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 22/6/2022