Kathryn Mitchell

Nicknamed Mitch,[1] Mitchell was born on 10 July 1982[1][2] in Hamilton, Victoria.[1] She calls Casterton her hometown but lives in Monte Carlo.[1][2][3] She went to Casterton Primary School before going to high school at Casterton Secondary College and Ballarat High School.[1] She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement [1] and is working on an advance degree in Nutritional Medicine.[1] She is a fitness services instructor[1][2] and health consultant.[1]

Mitchell competes in javelin.[1][2] As a fourteen-year-old, she started in the sport but did not begin to take the sport seriously until she was seventeen years old.[3] She took up the sport after her sister borrowed a javelin from school to practice with it for a school event.[3]

Mitchell was coached by Lindsay Burgoyne in high school.[3] At the start of high school, she broke the school record by 4 metres (13 ft).[3] She was coached by Eric Hollingsworth from 2003 to 2009.[1] Uwe Hohn has been her coach since 2010.[1][3] She trains at Olympic Park in Melbourne[2][4] and has a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport.[2] She is a member of the Eureka Athletics Club.[1][2][3]

In 2006, Mitchell represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games, where she made the finals in the javelin, finishing sixth overall.[1] She finished first at the 2008 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia.[1] In 2010, she set a Victorian state record in the javelin.[1] At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, she finished fifth.[1] Prior to competing in India, she spent four weeks training in Germany.[5] She finished second at the 2011 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia.[1] In January 2012, she competed at an Athletics Victoria inter-club meet, where she made a throw of 62.51 metres (205.1 ft).[4] While this distance would have qualified her for Olympics, the nature of the meet precluded it from counting.[4] She finished second at the 2012 National Championships in Melbourne, Australia [1] with a throw of 59.23 metres (194.3 ft), short of the Olympic A-Qualifying distance of 61 metres (200 ft).[4] She finished third at the 2012 Ostrava Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic.[1] At the event, she threw a personal best throw of 64.34 metres (211.1 ft).[1] In April, she finished second at the 2012 St. Wendel World Class Meeting in Germany.[1][4] She was selected to represent Australia in the javelin event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she qualified for the final in the women's javelin.[1][6] Before departing for London, she participated in a Germany-based training camp.[3] At the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, she placed 6th in the javelin throw final, with an effort of 64.36m.

Mitchell competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth, with a best throw 36 cm less than that of bronze medal winning compatriot Kelsey-Lee Roberts.[7] She improved on this performance at the 2018 Games, winning gold with a throw of 68.92m and setting a new Commonwealth Games record.[8]