Julian Konle

BIOGRAPHY

Australia’s only triple jump representative at the World Juniors in the last 15 years, Julian Konle, has transitioned nicely to seniors over the last couple of years earning selection in the Australian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and now the 2023 World Championships.

After placing 10th at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Julian has gone to a new level in 2023, not setting a PB, but jumping consistently at a higher level – the mark of an athlete progressing.

He placed third in the 2023 Nationals with a good leap of 16.50m - the best competition in the history of this event at the championships. In late May he headed to Europe and compiled a series of terrific performances, 16.60m, 16.46m, 16.39m and 16.54 windy.

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Aged 9 Julian Konle started his journey in athletics.
“My mum noticed I was the fastest in my class and decided to take me to Little Athletics to try it out,” Julian recalled.
He didn’t take it too serious in those early days, “just muck around with my friends in between the events”.
As he got older, he started to enjoy the competitive side of athletics and train with his friends to improve.

By age 17, he was already hitting impressive distances, 15.28m in the triple jump and 7.17m for the long jump. He was also a handy sprinter and in his teens, and would clock 10.79 in the 100m.

In 2016, with the World Junior Championships on the horizon for the year, Julian was making good progress going from 15.28m to 15.54m then 15.79m. He won the Australian junior title and was selected for the World Juniors. He became the first Australian representative for eight years and remains the sole representative in the last 14 years. In June in Germany, ahead of the World Junior Championships, he extended his PB to 16.06m. Three weeks later at the World Juniors he fouled his first two attempts, leaping a solid 15.60m on his third jump and didn’t progress to the final.

It had been a key years for Julian.
“I think the pivotal turning point in my career was when I won the Australian Junior National Championships and qualified for the World U20 Championships. This was my first taste of success in the sport and when I realised my potential to make Senior teams.”

As he transitioned into seniors, he did leap an impressive 7.65m in the long jump, but maintained his level in the triple jump. Then from April 2017 to January 2019, he didn’t compete. It forced him to make a big career decision.
“In 2018 I had a bad back injury (for 9-12 months) and made the decision to leave everything I knew in Perth and move to Brisbane to rehab my injury and work with Gary Bourne.”
It was a massive change for Julian who was living out of home for the first time and didn’t know anyone in Brisbane. 
“It ended up being the smartest decision I have ever made and I am so grateful that I did it.”

He opened his 2019 campaign with a 16.00m jump, reached a PB of 16.20m, and competed at the World University Games. Things really fired in 2020, when he improved 46cm in one competition, bounding out to 16.66m. It was the longest jump by an Aussie for four years and remains the longest in the last eight years by an Aussie.

COVID would cancel the remainder of 2020 and in 2021, he was out to a best of 16.42m and placed third at the Nationals. 
In 2022 he placed second at Nationals, leapt a best of 16.56m in American in May and then won the Oceania title in June. Later that month he was named in the triple jump for the Commonwealth Games.

In Birmingham, he opened the qualifying round with a solid jump of 15.90m, but two fouls followed, eventually finishing in 10th place.

He explained his recent approach to his event. 

“I have prioritised my technical model and mental state within competitions, and it seems to be paying dividends. People tend to focus on the physical and neglect the mind, but it is just as important as the physical for performance.”

Idol: LeBron James. He is an incredibly resilient athlete who works diligently to achieve his goals, but the reason he is my idol is what he does off the court. LeBron does so much to give back to his community, such as the I Promise School which helps disadvantaged youth in the area…Most influential person in your career: Many people that have helped mould me into the athlete I am today. If I had to pick one person it would have to be Gary Bourne.  Gary has really helped shape me from a junior athlete into a senior athlete, showing me what it takes to be elite. His support and guidance (inside and outside of training) have helped make me into the athlete I am today…Hobbies: I know everything there is to know about the NBA because I absolutely love basketball…Occupation: Finance Team at Howard Smith Wharves…Education: Bachelor of Commerce (Majoring in Finance) at Curtin University, Perth. Graduated 2021…Other Sports: Played Rugby Union and Basketball in school… Interesting facts: can speak Portuguese, his cousin was drafted to Port Adelaide in the AFL mid-season draft 2022

@ August 2023 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au

World Athletics Profile https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/julian-konle-14554579