With a scorching sun beating down on the shot put circle and a healthy group of fans cheering and yelling in support, Sarah Mitton stepped up for her final throw at the national championships on Saturday afternoon in the Township of Langley, B.C.
Mitton spun powerfully, letting out a scream as she fired her last throw.
When it finally came thudding to the ground, Mitton knew she had done something special. The crowd did too as they cheered enthusiastically.
After a length measurement, Mitton set a national record with a throw of 20.33 metres. It’s the farthest throw in the world this season.
“Over the moon. It came out of my hand and I knew the second it left it was a big one. It feels so good. I was super excited. And then I saw it was well over 20 and I lost my mind,” Mitton stated.
Earlier this week ahead of the competition, Mitton stated she sensed a 20-metre throw was something she was capable of doing.
Whether or not that would come to fruition at nationals was a question mark, according to her coach.
“Quite frankly I didn’t expect this here because she’s been squatting. She’s lifting really heavy. The other day she was complaining about her legs being sore,” Richard Parkinson said.
“She’s a redhead. A Ginger. From Nova Scotia. She always surprises. Hard work. Lots of hard work. Years of hard work. It’s all coming together.”
A day earlier during training, Mitton says she asked her coach to take a photo near the shot put circle.
“Yesterday my coach and I took a photo in front of the shot put sign. I got him to put up the two and I put up the zero,” she said.
“And he said, “don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself? I was like no, “I’m manifesting it.”
The 25-year-old from Brooklyn, N.S., has been on a extraordinary trajectory over the last number of months.
In February, she broke the Canadian indoor record at an event in New York with a throw of 19.16 metres. That broke the previous mark of 18.81 set by Mitton’s training partner Brittany Crew in 2020.
Mitton followed that up by shattering the outdoor Canadian record in May, also held by Crew, at the Golden Horseshoe Prep Meet in Hamilton. In her final throw of the event, Mitton threw 19.58 metres — Crew’s previous record was 19.28.
And now she’s crushed her own national record, just a month away from the world championships in Eugene, Ore.
“I’ve been chasing 20 for a while ever since I hit 19. Pretty excited it finally happened,” Mitton said. “I really feel like I’m coming into my own. It’s been really crazy to see how far I’ve come. Four years ago I was debating whether I would do this full time or not. It’s pretty crazy to be world number-one right now.”
