World athletics championships: Kelsey-Lee Barber walks tightrope to qualify for javelin final
With 18 left to throw in the javelin, only five would have had to better Kelsey-Lee Barber’s distance to knock her out of the final. That she made it will go down as the miracle in Budapest.
Athletics
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In the space of 60 minutes two-time world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber went from feeling numb and broken-hearted to relieved and excited after walking a tightrope in the javelin throw qualifying.
Barber looked to have crashed out of the world championships after finishing ranked eighth in Group A with only 12 going through to the final.
Her third throw of 59.66m was her best – the automatic qualifying mark is 61.50m – which meant she had to sit and watch the 18 competitors in Group B, praying that five of her rivals didn’t go past her.
And in what will go down as the miracle in Budapest, only four did it which meant Barber scrapped into the final by 7cm.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, who turns 32 next month, has won the past two world titles – in Doha in 2019 and last year in Eugene, Oregon – with her ability to find a big throw late in competitions her trademark.
But after not being able to do it in the qualifying, an emotional Barber thought she was cooked.
“Honestly I do feel a little numb,” Barber said immediately after the Group A found. “This means a lot to me, I do love it and I know athletics comes with challenges, this championship has shown the ups and downs of it already but I live for these occasions.
“Today it really hurts my heart because I wasn’t able to perform when it mattered most … it doesn’t take away from what I have achieved in the sport and it doesn’t take away from how much I love this event.”
The goalposts now change for Barber who basically gets a free hit in Saturday morning’s final (4.20am AEST) where she will be joined by two other Aussies, Kathryn Mitchell and Mackenzie Little.
Mitchell, 41, put a horror couple of years behind her to launch a season’s best 62.20m on the opening throw of the competition to make her first world championships final since 2013 in Moscow where she finished fifth.
The passing of her mother following the Tokyo Olympics saw her struggling for motivation and six weeks ago she was on the verge of pulling the pin on Budapest.
“This year has really tested me but I’ve just been fighting along in the background,” Mitchell said. “After Tokyo my numb passed away so last year I just tried to find motivation, tried to enjoy it but it’s been hard.
“Six weeks ago I pulled the pin for the season. I couldn’t get healthy, I was just struggling and by the time I got well enough to train I had a three-week window to qualify.
“I had pretty much stopped thinking about the world championships and it was like I had to start preparing for next year.
“But I thought I’d do the next two competitions because they’re in the calendar and then they went well and I had enough points to qualify.
“Things turned pretty quick. Training has improved and it was realistic then to say we can make the final (in Budapest) and see what happens.”
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mackenzie Little had some anxious moments before coming through late in Group B, throwing an impressive 63.45m to be ranked No. 3 going into the final.
There was anguish in the long jump with two Aussies, Chris Mitrevski and Liam Adcock, both jumping 7.99m to miss the final by just 1cm.
Medal hope Kurtis Marschall had no issues clearing 5.75m to tick off pole vault qualifying while in the women’s 800m heats, Australians Catriona Bisset and Abbey Caldwell both progressed through to the semi-finals.
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