2023-03-08

She just keeps getting better

by KEVIN MCBAIN

BROOKLYN – Just when you thought she had a good event, she has a better one the next week. Just when you think she has accomplished another milestone, she checks another one off her list.

Sarah Mitton, continues to rise to the occasion time and time again in the world of women's shot put. She is ranked second in the world.

The 26-year-old Canadian record holder and Commonwealth Games champion, most recently won the title of World Indoor Tour champion, which combines points from three different world athletic meets in New York, Madrid and Spain. She finished second with a throw of 18.88 metres in Germany Jan. 27; first in New York Feb. 11 with a throw of 19.52 metres; and first in the final event, in Madrid Feb. 22 with a throw of 19.76 metres (a meet record).

"It is kind of neat to see. The series win was big in two ways," said a humble Mitton from Toronto. "It was a good testament to my consistency and the fact that I won shows me that I have potential to be number one."

The series win means that she has automatically qualified for the 2024 World Championships that will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

This is just one series of accomplishments that she had this year so far.fasdfIn her first meet of 2023, she hurled a 19.80 metre throw Jan. 13 in Windsor, Ont. to beat her own Canadian record and on Jan. 31, she threw 19.29 metres to win a meet in Czechoslovakia.

Both of these throws, along with two of the three point series events were higher than her best indoor throw of 2022.

"I had a really good indoor season last year. I broke the Canadian record (19.16 metres) and I thought I was in a good place going into last year's outdoor season and kind of really finding my own," said Mitton.

"This indoor season, though, my throws were consistently above what I did last year, so I think there was a lot of growth during the outdoor season. Just technically, everything really came together, and I've been able to maintain that which is really exciting."

Mitton is now in Toronto where she will be resting, training and getting ready for the outdoor season. Recovery time is also in the schedule as she has been dealing with a minor elbow injury and discomfort in her throwing arm.

She will kick off the summer season in Arizona on May 20 and her main focus this year will be preparing for the World Athletics Championships that will be held in Budapest in late August this year. She is going in to the summer with a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

"The goal is to be on the podium at the world championships and after finishing fourth (tied at third), I'm really hungry to not just go out and make the podium, I'm looking to throw a personal best and win the world championships to make up for that fourth-place last year."

With the consistent uptick in her throwing distance she is excited "to see how far I can actually throw this summer."

Mitton's top throw was 20.33 metres at the Bell Canadian u20 senior-[para track and field championships in Langley B.C. in June 2022.

She noted a few reasons for her recent success including experience, but also a better relationship with her coach, Richard Parkinson.

"I think my coach and I really have it down. We know have more of a partnership than we had in the past," she said. "He listens to what I need and what my body needs, while I listen to him technical and I don't think there is ever time that we stop evolving technically and tweaking some minor things just to edge out a few more centimetres."

She adds that her mindset has changed as well. Where she used to go out with the thought of competing and doing well, her focus is on winning.

"It's something I feel is kind of a mental switch, taking on some more pressure and learning how to deal with it," she said, adding that is something that changed heading into the indoor season.

Asked if she ever took time to reflect on her journey...

"It's really funny how an athlete's brain works. If you would have asked me in 2021, or the beginning of 2022, if I thought this is where I would be right now...things have accelerated really quick for me, but this is where I've always wanted to be and it's good to sit back and appreciate where I am and how fortunate I am to be throwing as well as I am.

"Of course I am happy to be here, but I want to be number one and winning. There is still so much work to do and I want to take it to the next level of shot put dominance in the world. I am still very hungry."

Funding

It was recently announced that Mitton was one of 21 athletes to receive the boosted CAN Fund, a charitable organization that was started from a hospital bed at Toronto Western by founder Jane Roose with the idea of helping a few athletes compete for Canada.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, recipients will now receive $8,000 instead of the normal $6,000 to help pay for equipment, coaching, flights and more.

This is the second time that she has received the funding.

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