Australia’s new javelin world champ Kelsey-Lee Barber reveals what set her on path to glory
New Aussie world champ Kelsey-Lee Barber tried tennis, swimming, gymnastics and showed talent as a netballer. But it was her parents’ timing that was most decisive in setting her on the path to world title glory.
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Timing is certainly Kelsey-Lee Barber’s thing.
The world saw that in the javelin final when she produced one of the great clutch moments in Australian sport, winning the gold medal with her final throw.
And it was some fortuitous timing on her parents’ behalf which set her on her path to greatness.
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During the Sydney 2000 Olympics Kelsey-Lee and her parents made the move from South Africa to a dairy farm in Corryong in north-east Victoria.
She recalls being fascinated by the Olympics and watching the Games triggered something inside.
“I have asked my parents the question, ‘As a kid what did I want to do growing up? Was it a chef? Was it a dancer? Was it a actor?’ And they said they don’t have any other memory of me other than saying I wanted to be a sportsperson,” Barber said.
“So the drive has always been there and being exposed to Sydney Olympics when I came out in 2000 and saw what a spectacle it was, that was like ‘Oh yeah, I want to do this’.
“We ended up moving out during the Olympics and we were staying with another family during the closing ceremony.
“At that point of time I had no idea what the Olympics was. It was a whole new thing to me. I didn’t really know what it meant.
“It was in Australia, there was lots of talk, lots of noise, lots of excitement about and it was like, ‘This looks like something I can do’.”
Barber had a crack at a number of sports including tennis, swimming, gymnastics and netball where she showed considerable talent but it was the Olympic flame burning in her mind which saw her gravitate toward track and field.
“This was actually a really big turning point in choosing the sport I wanted to pursue because there is no netball in the Olympics,” Barber explained.
“That was actually one of the big reasons why I pursued track and field and javelin. The Olympics was the goal and I wanted to go at that whole-heartedly.”
Barber moved to Canberra in 2007 and from there her track and field dream began to materialise. The following year she won the javelin at the Pacific School Games.
In her first Australian team she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Injuries hampered her next couple of years before she made the final of the 2017 world championships in London.
A silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games last year continued her career trajectory, which reached its zenith in Doha on Tuesday night.
Barber’s world hasn’t stopped spinning since, with hundreds of messages flooding her phone -including one from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“I do feel like my world has been flipped upside down,” she said. “As athletes we don’t necessarily plan for the aftermath of the success, we’re trying to do everything to make that moment happen and whatever comes after that is not what we’ve planned for.
“I’ve just tried to engage with it all and enjoy as much as I can but it’s really all new territory for me.”
Her clutch throw and memorable reaction to winning gold flooded social media where her signature Twitter handle @thatjavelingirl has trended worldwide.
“It’s a really great story. Part of a uni course I was doing about sports management and looking into the social media platforms because it was quite early days,” she said.
“We were encouraged to create different profiles for different platforms and I was like ‘Oh my name is so boring’. In the moment it was like let’s do something fun but still keep it relatable to me.
“I didn’t want to be @thatjavelinchick so @thatjavelingirl had a nice ring to it and it kind of caught on.”
Barber, 28, and her husband/coach Mike are planning a brief holiday when they return to Australia before the focus turns to the Tokyo Olympics.
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Once again her timing is perfect given the Australian team is searching for a new spiritual leader following the retirement of Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson.
“Sally was the face of Australian athletics team for a number of years and it has been unbelievable listening to her throughout the years,” Barber said.
“I don’t necessarily want to feel like I have to fill her shoes, I think Sally is a stand alone athlete in her achievements and I like to think that I could step up and start making a name for myself.
“As much as anything I would love to see a few more athletes beside me in getting exposure to help grow our sport in Australia.”
Originally published as Australia’s new javelin world champ Kelsey-Lee Barber reveals what set her on path to glory