Mitchell's Story
Mitchell Watt rose to prominence in 2011 with an outstanding year of competition for the rising star. With an 8.38m and 8.44m domestically he continued this form internationally and had the four leading jumps in the world going into the 2011 World Championships including 8.54m in Stockholm to break Jai Taurima's Australian record - set when he won silver at Sydney 2000. In Daegu, he jumped 8.33m to place second behind defending champion Dwight Phillips (USA).
Watt missed the 2012 domestic season recovering from achilles and calf injuries before jumping 8.21m on the Gold Coast exactly two months out from the Opening of the London 2012 Games. He went on to win the New York Diamond League event with a jump of 8.16m.
With some strong performances on the board following his injury, Watt headed to his debut Olympic Games in London with a strong chance at taking out a medal. After fouling on his first jump, Watt recorded a jump of 7.97m to have him sitting in 4th position. He slipped to 7th at the end of the fourth round after fouling on both his third and fourth attempts. Watt pulled out a leap of 8.13m on the next jump to shoot him into the silver medal position before matching his New York Diamond League winning mark of 8.16m on his last attempt. The distance ensured Watt took home silver behind Britain’s Greg Rutherford who finished with a best leap of 8.31m.
The night at the track belonged to the British with Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah also both winning gold in front of boisterous home crowd support.
