The 39-year-old finished sixth in a hotly-contested field at Tokyo on Friday night, throwing a best of 61.82 to play her part in a historic day for Australia.

Sixth-place equals Mitchell's finish at Rio 2016, and betters her ninth-placed finish at London 2012.

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Mitchell's best attempt this time around came with her first throw of the night. While it was some distance off the leaders, it ensured all Australians finished in the top eight of the final.

Kelsey-Lee Barber's bronze medal win and Mackenzie Little's eight-placed finish meant three Australians finished in the top eight of a field event - men's or women's - for the first time in history.

Barber's 64.56m was only five centimetres off silver medallist Marie Andrejcyzk from Poland. China's Liu Shiying threw a season-best 66.34 with the first throw of the final to claim the gold medal.

It was a final of two halves for Mitchell, but her efforts in her third Olympics should not be understated.

The Games have been the first time Mitchell has been able to be with her partner and coach, Uwe Hohn, in 20 months after he became stuck in India due to the country's COVID-19 crisis.

Also, after qualifying for the final with a throw of 61.58m, the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist revealed that she had tweaked a hamstring in the past couple of weeks.

See the final as it happened below.

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