Kathryn Mitchell named in javelin team for World Athletics titles

The Casterton-raised athlete has been competing overseas this winter and has just recently hit her best form since the Tokyo Olympics, winning the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in Eisenstadt held on the last weekend of July.

The 41-year-old's winning throw in that event was 61.84 metres, which was almost a metre ahead of Germany's Christin Hussong.

To put the throw in perspective, just two weekends prior, Mitchell had finished runner-up in an event in Germany with a throw of 49.87 metres.

However, just eight days later in a event in Switzerland she increased that distance to more than 60 metres - the first time she has done so since she threw 61.29 metres at the Victorian Country Athletics Championships in Geelong in January this year.

The Austrian victory and the subsequent distance thrown sees her world ranking climb back up to 28th in the world, giving her an automatic entry into the championships.

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The last time she threw that distance was at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where she landed a throw of 61.85 metres.

Mitchell is the third-ranked Australian in the women's javelin team with world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber and rising star Mackenzie Little also named.

Also picked in the squad was former Ballarat runner Stewart McSweyn who has been named in both the 1500m and 5000m.

Sprinter Torrie Lewis, formally coached by Ballarat's Gerrard Keating has also been included in her first senior team, named in the 100m and 4x100m relay team.

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