Mitchell Watt: Leaping onto the World Stage

By Edward Ovadia

A year ago Mitch Watt wasn't even a professional long jumper. But a lot can happen in a year. One brilliant European season later, and Mitch is a force to be reckoned with on the world stage. In particular, a jump of 8.37m in the fifth round in Berlin secured him a his first piece of World Championships silverware - a bronze medal. Then there was that leap of 8.43m in Rethymno, Greece, in July - a jump which launched Mitch to second on the Australian all time list, just six centimetres short of Jai Taurima's Australian record. Not bad for the 21 year old from Queensland, who seems to have unlimited potential.

In his first European season, Mitch had some big performances. He opened up with an 8.15m in his European debut, then jumped 8.34m in Madrid, before his big leap in Rethymno. Everything was coming together right before the World Championships

"I didn't really know what to expect when I left Australia; I'd never really been away from home or lived by myself, or competed outside of Australia. I think the fact that I was jumping well made the transition more comfortable and put me in a good mood a lot of the time. I jumped 8.15m in my first competition in France, which was only 2cm away from my PB at the time, and things generally kept improving. I also had a lot of great friends in Germany, I was living in a house with Roffy and Renshaw so it was a lot of fun (even though I copped a lot of flack for not running 20km a day!). They taught me a lot about middle distance running, and ate a lot of Ben and Jerry's."

At the start of the year Mitch wasn't sure about his future in long jumping. It was only once he was selected in the World Championships team that he decided to give it a go.

"It's all happened pretty quickly to be honest. At the start of this year I was still studying my law degree full time, and working part time. I decided to defer once I was selected for Berlin so I could go to Europe and do the competitions that my coach/manager had planned for me. I guess that's what's good about track and field, being a full time athlete doesn't consume your whole life (for me, anyway); I train 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. This might seem a lot to some people, but it still gives me the time I need to do what I want outside of training."

Berlin was a huge breakthrough for Mitch. Despite having been focused on the World Championships for a long time, making your first international team is always a major stepping stone.

"At first it was really weird being in Berlin. My coach (Gary Bourne) and I had been planning it since 2008, well before I had even jumped a qualifier or named on the team. So to be in Berlin for the World Championships was a weird feeling after all the hard work and planning that had gone in to being there."

He qualified for the final with his first jump, and then came out and jumped 8.28m in the first round of the final. With a start like that, Mitch was in the hunt for a medal right from the beginning.

"I was very nervous by round two (for probably the first time in my career), because I knew that my round one jump would be a possibility for a medal, which it was. Being out on the track there was amazing, especially in the final. Usain Bolt set his 200m WR, Steve won, and Dani's medal presentation was on during my competition, so it really was a magical night in the stadium. It was quite weird because I didn't know Steve had won gold until I saw him doing a victory lap as I was literally standing on the podium. It was really cool!"

So what does Mitch take from his first representative experience?

"The main thing I will take from this year is obviously the belief that I can jump big distances and compete/beat the top jumpers in the world. I also learnt a lot outside of athletics which will make next year easier - what it's like to be on a plane 3-4 times a week, having to change training sessions because you can't get to the track, not being able to eat exactly what you want - things like this will make Europe next year a touch smoother."

Mitch is not the only big name long jumper in Australia. Fabrice Lapierre has taken out the World Athletics Final two years in a row, and with a jump of ___(distance)___ was just behind Mitch in Berlin. The Aussies now seem to be the duo that everyone is keeping their eye on.

"Fabrice and I get along really well. We competed together a fair bit this year - Rome, London, Monaco, Madrid - and then Berlin. It's good having him out on the track, we are both pretty relaxed so it's good to have a chat in between jumps. He's a bit more experienced than me, and a really good jumper, so the more we can compete together the better.

I think Fabrice and I just happened to have our breakthrough year in the same season as each other. Before Nationals in March neither of us had jumped further than 8.20m, and now we have both jumped 8.35m+ . We definitely have a good pool of jumpers in Australia and I'm sure in the seasons to come we will have more jumpers pushing the best guys in the world."

So after such a big year, there's a lot to expect from Mitch next year. With the Commonwealth Games and an extended season, he will have a lot of opportunities for success.

"Next year will be a pretty big year. I plan on competing at World Indoors in March, nationals in April, and then the new Diamond League stretches from May - September, followed by Commonwealth Games in October. It is a pretty massive season, so it will be a huge challenge and take a lot of planning and support, but something I am definitely looking forward to. I have a few months of base to look forward to before then!"

And what can we expect from Mitch then?

"I wish I knew! Realistically I wasn't expecting to jump 8.43m this year, so who knows what is going to happen in the seasons to come. My coach and I know that I can still improve aspects of my training (especially my technique). I will continue to train hard and compete in some quality competitions next year, both in Australia and overseas, so hopefully with some good competition and good training I can keep jumping far."

 

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