Sarah Mitton Targets Big Throws at Jerome Classic 2025

By Gary Kingston

BURNABY – With her flowing red hair and bright smile, her patriotic commitment to supporting Canadian athletics and an ability to bravely face adversity, shot putter Sarah Mitton easily connects with track and field fans.

The native of tiny Brooklyn, N.S., is the Canadian record holder, two-time world indoor champion, world outdoor silver medallist and reigning Diamond League champion.

On July 15, 2025, she’ll make her third consecutive appearance at the Jerome Classic at Swangard Stadium, looking to continue her bounce back from the sting of failing to medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics when she finished 12th.

Ranked No. 3 in the world, the 29-year-old feels like she’s just reaching her prime years. A subtle technique change helped her throw a personal best 20.68 metres indoors in February and 20.48 to win the world indoor championship in Nanjing, China, on March 21st. And she feels there is more to come.

“I’m getting to a point where everything is so consistent,” she said in an interview this week. “My competition experience is quite high, my mental experience is quite high. As long as I can keep my body healthy, I feel like I’ve got a few more good years in me.”

Those years will continue with Diamond League events across Europe and Asia, the 2028 Olympics, world championships and a selection of meets on the Athletics Canada National Track and Field Tour.

Mitton won the Royal City Inferno in Guelph, Ont., (20.25 metres on June 18), will compete in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., this Saturday, a Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 11, the Edmonton Athletics Invitational on July 13 and then the Jerome two days later

“Yeah, the next week and a half is a bit crazy and there’s a good chance I’ll be running on fumes again, but I think it’s important to show up for meets in Canada. Even though I’m at a point where I’ve got standard (for world championships in Tokyo on Sept. 20), I appreciate everything Athletics Canada does and I want to support their meets so they can continue to grow and my presence can help training partners and friends who need points.”

Her technique change in January was very subtle as she moved her right foot about 40 degrees at the start of her rotation. The idea is to create a longer pathway for the shot, giving her a bit longer to apply force on the ball.

She’s throwing consistently in the mid 20-metre range with a goal to surpass the 21-metre mark, something that hasn’t been accomplished by a female shot putter since 2011. Mitton was nearly beaten to that mark by American rival Chase Jackson last Saturday when the heavily-tattooed, two-time world outdoors champion uncorked a stunning effort of 20.95 in Rathdrum, Idaho.

“I was quite happy for her, we’re good mates,” said Mitton. “Obviously, competitive wise, I’m grateful for those five centimetres (short of 21). I still have an opportunity to get her and be the first to 21.”

The world record, the third-longest standing one in track and field, is 22.63 metres, set by Russian Natalya Lisovskaya in June, 1987. That was back when Eastern European women were routinely going over 22 metres while being dogged by allegations of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, along with Mitton, the top-10 world rankings include three Americans, a New Zealander, a Swede, two Chinese women and throwers from the Netherlands and Germany.

Mitton won’t rule out a clean thrower busting past 22 metres at some point in the future.

“The group of women where we are right now, I don’t see throws of 22 metres. It’s going to take a special talent, but with all the resources available right now, all the info from us ‘old dogs,’ changes in technique . . . I can see 22 metres in the future.”

Mitton will be challenged at the Jerome by American Jessica Ramsey (20.12 personal best) and Jamaican Danniel Thomas-Dodd, who won last year’s meet with a throw of 19.32 metres. Mitton, still reeling from the death of her father and worn down by a busy schedule, could manage just 18.82.

Then at the Paris Olympics in August, after throwing half a metre further than the field in qualifying, early rain and a slick throwing circle on the final day caused Mitton to come unravelled. She got in only three attempts with a best of just 17.48 metres.

“In hindsight, I think it’s easy to see that, emotionally, I wasn’t able to handle a situation that I feel like I should have been able to handle, given the caliber of athlete that I think I am. I just kind of crumbled a little bit.”

But she did exit interviews, then returned to the throwers area to watch the remaining competition, even hugging and smiling with the medalists.

She says now that as she looks ahead to more world championships and the 2028 Olympics, she is in a “really great place. I’m getting in a good groove and figuring out how to throw farther.

“I want to separate myself as a gold medal winner consistently… and outdoor gold in Tokyo would be really exciting.”