The international season of elite athletics begins this week with the opening leg of the IAAF Diamond League from Doha. Eurosport Australia will have LIVE coverage from 2am on Saturday May 10.
Headlining the Australian contingent will be IAAF World Championship silver medallist and recently crowned Australian record holder, Western Australian javelin star, Kim Mickle.
Mickle stunned the athletics world by throwing an Australian record of 66.83m at the IAAF World Challenge in Melbourne in March. The 29-year-old said she was amazed by her early season form and was eager to improve upon that mark at the Diamond League and Commonwealth Games.
“To throw the Australian record and PB in March is crazy,” Mickle told Eurosport Australia.
“My goal this year was to break the Australian record. The fact I’ve already done that is scary. I still have the same goal, I still want to break it, it just happens to be my record now.
“By Commonwealth Games and Diamond League finals time I have absolutely no idea how far I can throw it. We’ll soon find out I guess.”
Mickle was a regular on the Diamond League circuit last season, finishing in the top three at all six javelin events. With her sights set on gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Mickle is hoping to break through for that first Diamond League victory in 2014.
“The Diamond League is extraordinary. I managed to do most events last year and they are an amazing build up to any major championship,” she said.
“My goal this year is to be Commonwealth champion but I also want to see what I can do against the best in the world at the Diamond League.
“Last year I finished on the podium at every single event but failed to get on the top of the dais, so hopefully I can nab a few first places this year.
“To compete against the best in the world each month at every Diamond League event is great. My plan is definitely to win each event, so game on.”
Joining Mickle in Doha will be defending Commonwealth Games pole vault champion, Queensland’s Alana Boyd. Boyd failed to clear a height at the Australian Championships in Melbourne last month and will be aiming for an improved performance in Doha.
Other big name attractions for the opening Diamond League round in Doha are Olympic champions LaShawn Merritt, David Rudisha, Asbel Kiprop, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and New Zealand’s Valerie Adams, who has not lost a women’s shot put competition since August 2010.
The second event of the IAAF Diamond League heads to Shanghai in China. LIVE coverage on Eurosport Australia is from 10pm on Sunday May 18. Fellow Aussie starlet Dani Samuels will begin her international season in the women’s discus.
Eurosport Australia will broadcast all 14 Diamond League events, with coverage continuing throughout May and June.
