Mitchell Cooper throws his discus in the ring for Olympic berth

Chance drew Mitchell Cooper to athletics, but it’s an opportunity he’s grabbed with both hands. He’s now working hard to make the Australian team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Discus thrower Mitchell Cooper at training. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Walker

IN Mitchell Cooper’s view, athletics hasn’t given him everything in life but it’s come pretty close.

If it wasn’t for a school carnival in Year 5, his life would be vastly different, and he may still be playing rugby instead of throwing a discus on the world stage.

The equipment and conditions were pretty basic, but he won that competition before going on to district and regional meets. Mitchell was hooked, and his dad was keen to help him take it further.

“This was before Youtube, so we went online and found some stuff and he coached me up. We did three months of it and went to nationals. I won nationals as a 10-year-old and threw the national record,” Mitchell recalls.

Mitchell Cooper in his Deception Bay Little Athletics days. Picture: Bradley Cooper.

The Burpengary East resident has since represented Australia at the Commonwealth Youth Games and World Junior Championships, the World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and now has his sights on a spot on the Aussie team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

He’s also trained and competed while studying at the University of Kansas, making lifelong friends and finetuning his technique.

“I think Commonwealth Games would be my biggest achievement as people would see it — fifth place looks great on paper but … my PB is probably my biggest achievement currently at 63.98m,” he explains.

“It came out of the blue. My parents were over in America watching me compete. It was just awesome and because of that I got to the World Champs that year, 2017, in London which was an awesome experience.”

Australia's Mitchell Cooper competes in the qualifying round of the men's discus throw athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 4, 2017. Picture: AFP PHOTO/Andrej ISAKOVIC

Since then, Mitchell, 24, has returned home where he’s coached by his dad Garth, is part of the Deception Bay Amateur Athletics Club and coaches at Deception Bay Little Athletics.

He’s been working on his technique, strength and development close to home, and feels good about his chances of making the Australian Olympic team.

“For discus throwers, in general, you don’t hit your peak until your late 20s and then you hold that through your 30s. It is a slow build,” he says.

“We’re looking good for next year. I did pretty good at the Oceania Championships at Townsville — I won that, but I wanted to throw a bit further. I got over 60m but (more importantly) I had a bit of breakthrough that week with training.

“We’ve built the base. I had a lot of deficiencies in aspects of my strength, so we’ve fixed those and now we can put the muscle on. The focus has been on the body, and we’re shifting now to focus on the technique.”

To qualify for the Olympic Games in July, Mitchell needs to make the IAAF top 32 world ranking, with a maximum of three per country. He can achieve this by throwing a monster 66m, or via a complicated points system.

Discus thrower Mitchell Cooper. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Walker

With all of this ahead of him, the bloke who rates John Eales as his sporting hero because of the way he conducted himself on and off the field, still has time to help the next generation.

He and Garth are regulars at Deception Bay Little Athletics and it’s something Mitchell is grateful to the sport for. Athletics has also given him his wife, Zoe, a hammer thrower he met while training in Melbourne.

“It (athletics) has given me, I wouldn’t say purpose, but given me skills that other people don’t have. It taught me how much I appreciated coaching and working with kids,” he explains.

“Before that, I didn’t have a clue and was a goofball who liked sport. Now I have a bit more of an idea of what I’m about, what I want to do, what I can do and what I’m good at. I wouldn’t say it’s given me everything, but it’s given me a lot. I’m very grateful.”