Under the Radar | Day Eight Review
Published Sat 07 Aug 2021
If it’s possible for a reigning world champion to fly under the radar heading into an Olympic Games, Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) just did. But with a steely look in her eye, Barber returned to her best when it mattered to secure an Olympic bronze medal in the women’s javelin.
In 2019 the Australian became nothing short of an icon after nailing her sixth-round throw at the IAAF World Championships to leapfrog her way to the eventual gold medal. But since then, Barber had struggled to regain her best form both physically and mentally.
That was until tonight.
From the moment she stepped onto the track, it was clear that Barber had come to win. She stared intensely into the distance and completed breathing exercises as she locked into “the zone” – and like most champions do, she appeared to want it the most.
Barber’s fourth round throw of 64.04m saw her firm in the bronze medal position, before she launched the javelin 64.56m in the final round to come within 5cm of an Olympic silver medal.
“I live for these moments. I can’t tell you how much I have missed it these last few years, and just being out there and soaking it up. I love being an athlete and I wanted to make the most of it,” Barber said.
Producing easily her best performance of the season, the reigning world champion credited the qualifying round for giving her the confidence to succeed in the final – clearly back in love with the sport that has brought her so much joy.
“That’s the beauty of the event. It’s not over until it’s over and for me I was fighting for gold, not aiming to stay in third,” Barber said.
Barber was full of praise for her Australian teammates who have enjoyed a fantastic championship to date, saying she hopes to inspire the next generation of Olympians.
“I am so proud of the Aussie girls and the way we have represented in the field and on the track. I hope that we’ve inspired other young girls to throw or run on the track. It’s a beautiful sport and we’ve done ourselves proud,” Barber said.
“To have three girls in the final, that’s just unbelievable. It’s been pure joy to see other Australians succeed. I was channeling every ounce of Australian pride tonight to do my best.”
Barber becomes only the second Australian female to win an Olympic medal in the event, joining Louise McPaul who won silver in 1996.
Kathryn Mitchell (Uwe Hohn) showed promise early when hitting 61.82m with her first throw, but the three-time Olympian was unable to improve on the distance in her following five throws – finishing in sixth place to match her performance in Rio.
Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) was solid on Olympic debut when throwing 59.96m to finish in eighth place of the final, with the opportunity to compete on the biggest stage leaving the 24-year-old with a clear mindset moving forward.
“I can hold my own in an Olympic final and I deserve to be here,” Little said.
Jemima Montag (Brent Vallance) was out to prove that she belongs amongst the world’s best female race walkers when making her maiden Olympic appearance, charging off the line to join the lead group.
At times Montag would even head the group as she threw down the gauntlet in a showing of confidence, before losing contact with the race leaders at the 15-kilometre mark.
The 23-year-old fought on valiantly to finish in sixth position – a result that has her excited for the future.
“I’ve got a really experienced coach in Brent Vallance. He coached Jared Tallent who’s got a gold, silver and bronze. I dream about being on the podium in three years’ time and I trust that together we can get there,” she said.
Montag pointed to the sky as she crossed the line in a time of 1:30:39, later revealing that it was a tribute to a late family member who inspired the brave performance.
“A big thank you to my family. I lost my Nanna recently. She was a Holocaust survivor, and I used her strength through the entire race,” she said.
22-year-old Katie Hayward (Steve Langley) and 20-year-old Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) rounded out the young Australian race walking trio, finishing in 37th and 38th positions respectively at their Olympic debuts.
In the women’s 1500-metre final, Linden Hall was a long way back for a long time but once she got out – she flew.
Hall found herself boxed in at the back of the field for most of the encounter before finding clear space in the final lap to bolt home in sixth place, setting a new personal best of 3:59.01 in the process – the second fastest time in Australian history.
“It was absolutely the most pleasant of all the rounds, but also the fastest, scariest and most important,” Hall said.
Hall’s capacity to run a personal best in an Olympic final having already completed two challenging rounds in the previous days is indicative of just how good she is right now, saying that she hopes to “tag team” the Australian record with Hull in the coming years.
“Top eight is always a big goal. I was the first person to miss the final in Rio so the big one was to make the final and anything from there was a bonus. It took the pressure off me and allowed me to enjoy the moment,” Hall said.
Jessica Hull (Pete Julian) was brave in attempting to maintain a forward position throughout the 1500-metre encounter, with the hot pace being driven from the front eventually proving too much for the 24-year-old.
Hull finished in 11th place of the Olympic final at her first Olympic Games, clocking a time of 4:02.63 as she left no stone unturned in her bid for glory.
The occasion was the first time in history that two Australian women had lined up in an Olympic 1500m final – a stat that may soon be a distant memory as Australian middle-distance running enjoys a Renaissance.
Earlier in the day it was Rhydian Cowley (Brent Vallance) who was set the grueling task of completing 50-kilometres of walking on the streets of Sapporo, but it was a task that the now two-time Olympian was up for.
In only his second appearance over the distance, Cowley clocked a personal best of 3:52:01 to finish in eighth position of a world class field – walking strongly over the line as his sound technique held up after almost four hours in punishing heat and humidity.
Post-race, Cowley’s initial reaction was to apologise – not for his performance, but instead to his partner.
“I just have to apologise to my fiancé Amelia, she said don’t finish in a wheelchair, but it just looked so comfy to sit down on after walking 50 k’s,” he said.
It was a well-earned rest for the Australian race walking stalwart, who says his was inspired by the performance was inspired by his younger counterparts Declan Tingay (Steven Tingay) and Kyle Swan (Brent Vallance) the previous day.
“We’ve got a really strong history in this event with top eights going all the way back to 1996, so I’m happy to contribute to that and follow in Jared Tallent and Dane Bird-Smith’s footsteps,” Cowley said.
“I was inspired by our young guys yesterday, they did fantastically for their first real big senior team.”
SATURDAY 7th AUGUST:
Morning Session -
7:00am: Women’s Marathon - Sinead Diver, Lisa Weightman, Ellie Pashley
Evening Session -
8:35pm: Women’s High Jump Final - Nicola McDermott, Eleanor Patterson
9:40pm: Men’s 1500m Final - Stewart McSweyn, Oliver Hoare
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 7/08/2021
