30.09.2009

Watt a wonderful year for Mitchell

When Queensland University undergraduate Mitchell Watt jumped 8.43m in Greece in July he rocketed to fifth spot in the world long jump rankings, just 0.06m away from the national long jump record of 8.49m held by Sydney Olympics silver medallist Jai Taurima.

You would forgive him for expecting a touch of press coverage but he’s slightly shocked when spikesmag.com asks him for a chat.

"How do you know who I am?" he asks, making it clear his feet are still on the ground despite a year that has seen him rise to the elite ranks of international athletics.

The third year commerce/law student has been winning long jump competitions since high school but took a break in his early teens to play Australian rules football.

"I competed in state and national titles until I was about 13," he explains. "In my last year I won the long jump, 100m and triple jump at nationals. Then I started playing Aussie rules, which I really enjoyed.

"I just didn’t think athletics would take me anywhere. I didn’t think I could live off it," he says. "But while I was at university I saw my friend from U13s. He told me how he’d been to Europe and made a bit of cash. He said it was about time I went back to athletics."

And that’s exactly what the sporting all-rounder did.

"Training was tough at first, I hadn’t done sport for two years so I was 15 kilos heavier than I am now - I was too busy going out drinking and doing all the things that 19-year-olds do," he says.

The Brisbane-based athlete puts his transformation to a world championships bronze medallist down to a combination of natural talent and his coach, Gary Bourne.

"It’s been 18 months of hard work, solid jumping and improved measurements. He really knows how to prepare athletes for big tournaments and a lot of my progress is down to him," he says of Bourne, who also coached Taurima.

Watt's compatriot, Fabrice Lapierre is also proving helpful in the quest to mix it on the world stage. "It's also great having another Aussie jumper doing well," Watt says. "Fabrice is pushing the top jumpers in big competitions and he's pushing me, too."

So, with the same coach as Taurima, a PB not far off the national record and some stiff Aussie competition, surely the distance to beat must be well within Watt's reach?

"I’d be silly to say it’s not as it’s only 0.06m away now," he says. "Jai was a hero of mine and I remember watching him in Sydney on the TV - it would be a really weird feeling to break 8.49m because I remember seeing him do it and thinking how far it was."

With thanks to spikesmag.com