Mitchell Watt

This article is about an athlete. For the basketball player, see Mitchell Watt (basketball).

Mitchell Watt (born 25 March 1988) is an Australian track & field athlete. His main event is the long jump and holds the current Oceania record for the long jump – 8.54m. He is the youngest ever Australian track and field medalist, and he was the first ever Australian Long Jump medalist at a World Championship.

Childhood

Track and FIeld

Watt started his athletics career as a teenager and first started getting attention as a schoolboy at Brisbane Boys College, a prestigious private high school in Queensland. As a 13-year-old he competed in the GPS 100m, 200m, 400m relay, 100m relay, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put and discus, winning all of his events bar and discus with a respectable 4th.

As a junior he won the All-schools nationals in 1999 (Long Jump), 2000 (Long Jump), 2001 (Long Jump [national record], Triple Jump [national record], 100m).

Rugby Union and Australian Football

Watt took an interest in Australian Football and Rugby Union in his later years of high school. He proved extremely versatile successful in both codes. In Australian Football he won two State Championships during high-school playing as ruckman.

In Rugby Union, he played in the outside backs and was vice-captain of the 1st XV. He was a member of the State team (Queensland Schoolboys squad), a team which several current Australian Wallabies played in.

Career

Long Jump

Mitchell's first major championship was the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin where he won a bronze medal with a jump of 8.37. He backed this up with another bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha.

He won the 2011 Australian long jump title with a personal best of 8.44 m, setting a stadium record at the Melbourne Olympic Park Stadium with the final jump of the final competition that was held at the venue.

Mitchell won Silver at the World Championships in Daegu, with a jump of 8.33 m in an interesting competition where the winning jumps were made in the second round. The top three jumpers failed to improve on their first and second round jumps.

100m

Mitchell has only run three 100m races since 2005. In 2011 he ran 10.31 seconds in his long jump spikes, which are considered slower than sprint spikes, and used the starting blocks setup from the competitor in the previous race. He also ran 10.3 seconds in 2009.

Diamond League

Mitchell was the 2011 Diamond League Trophy winner for the Long Jump, picking up the $40,000 bonus. He won in Shanghai, London, and also Stockholm where he set the Australian record, and had already secured victory before the Final in Zurich. He is the first and only Australian to ever win a Diamond League Trophy. He also finished the 2011 season with the longest 4 out of 5 jumps in the world.

Stadium Records

Mitchell currently holds the following stadium/meeting records in the world:

• Shanghai (Shanghai Stadium, China) - 8.44m
• London (Crystal Palace Stadium) - 8.45m
• Rethymno (Vardinoyannia, Greece) - 8.43m
• Melbourne (Olympic Park, Australia) - 8.44m
• New York (Icahn Stadium, United States of America) - 8.16m

Endorsements

Watt has proven popular with global sponsors. He has signed endorsements with Adidas, Powerade, Omega, Mitsubishi and Coles Supermarkets.

Personal life

Mitchell is currently enrolled in a Law / Economics dual degree at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, where he holds a High Achievement Scholarship for his academic and sporting excellence. He also holds a scholarship at the Queensland Academy of Sport. Mitch is a long time supporter of Manchester United Football Club who are also his natural team of choice when playing the popular PlayStation game, FIFA

External links

• Mitchell Watt profile at IAAF