Mitton rejuvenated ahead of Diamond League Final after fouling out of Olympic shot put

Sarah Mitton won’t be praying for rain in Brussels on Friday to open the two-day Diamond League Final, but she will welcome such conditions during shot put competition next spring and summer leading into September’s World Athletics Championships in Japan.

Mitton, who won indoor world gold in March, believes the rainy and wet conditions at Stade de France cost her an Olympic medal last month in Paris.

“I feel I was in the best shape of my life and the most prepared I could have been to throw far,” Mitton said before flying to Belgium, where she will try to be Canada’s first-ever Diamond League Trophy winner in women’s shot put, which begins at 1:43 p.m. ET.

With a 20.68-metre personal best, Mitton threw 17.15 and 17.48 on Aug. 9 before falling out of the circle on her third throw, telling CBC Sports this week it would have measured 19.50-19.60 for the bronze medal ahead of Song Jiayuan of China. Instead, she placed last in a field of 12.

“I need to throw in the rain a bit more. I haven’t had a lot of opportunity [in my career] and I’ve never been successful with the spin [technique] in the rain,” said Mitton, who was 28th in her 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo.

The native of Brooklyn, N.S., said her throws didn’t have the necessary intensity in the Paris final and when it started to rain, she panicked and tried to change her throwing strategy.

“Having a little bit of fear of falling down and not doing your best is better than changing your game plan on the day,” Mitton said. “I need to attack throws [with confidence] while it’s raining and get over that mental barrier.”

Post-Olympics, the 28-year-old twice competed in Germany — topping 20 metres for the third time this season in Thum (20.18) where she threw 18.86 in a steady downpour a year ago. She then tossed 19.52 at a Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland before returning home to Toronto for three weeks.

“Those meets were critical to my mental well-being, but it was good to come home and reset,” Mitton said. “With a three-week break, sometimes it gets tough to stay focused, but I got in the [shot put] circle and worked on some pieces I know lead to bigger throws.”

WATCH l Mitton opens up about missing Olympic podium:

Jackson in top form

Long throws will probably be a must to hold off two-time defending Diamond League champion Chase Jackson, who tossed a 20.64 season best in Lausanne after failing to qualify for the Olympic final.

“I managed to [beat] her at world indoors [on March 1],” said Mitton, who was second to her American rival in each of the past two Finals. Her most recent outdoor win over Jackson was June 15, 2023 at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway. “I’m not going to the Diamond League Final looking for [Olympic] redemption but excited to show up and try to throw my furthest on the day.”

WATCH | Mitton throws 19.94m for 2nd at ’23 Diamond League Final:

Middle-distance runner Marco Arop and pole vaulter Alysha Newman will also try to become first-time Diamond League Trophy winners on Saturday at the 48th Allianz Memorial Van Damme meet.

Thirty-two disciplines will be contested at King Baudouin Stadium over two days, with ticket sales having surpassed 70,000.

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Live streaming coverage of Friday’s and Saturday’s track and field action at the Diamond League Final begins at 2 p.m. ET and is available at CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

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In addition to the Trophy and $30,000 US, winners will earn a wild-card entry to next year’s worlds.

Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (100m hurdles) was Canada’s first Diamond League champion in 2010 and Dylan Armstrong won men’s shot put a year later. Last September, Andre De Grasse sprinted to the men’s 200m title in 19.76 seconds.

Arop says he’ll break 800m world mark

Edmonton’s Arop arrived in Brussels brimming with confidence after lowering his national record to two minutes 13.13 seconds across 1,000 metres for the meet record at a World Athletics Continental Tour event in Zagreb, Croatia last Sunday.

At a pre-race news conference, Arop, who earned his first Olympic medal in Paris last month with silver in the men’s 800m competition, said he was heading to Brussels “to break the 800m world record. … The record is definitely going down.” Saturday’s race is scheduled for 3:40 p.m.

WATCH | Arop sets 800m meet record in Silesia win:

“He set the standard,” the 25-year-old Arop told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux earlier this year. “If I can keep putting in the work I might get to his level.”

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi went 1:41:11 to beat Arop in Lausanne on Aug. 22, three days before losing to the Canadian at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland. Wanyonyi won last year’s Diamond League Final over Arop by 5-100ths in Eugene, Ore.

WATCH | Arop 2nd to 800m rival Wanyonyi in 2023 DL Final:

Newman ‘hungry for more’

Newman, 30, will compete Saturday at 1:51 p.m. in her fourth Diamond League Final and first since 2019.

Last week, she cleared 4.82 metres for second place behind Olympic champion Nina Kennedy of Australia at the Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League event.

Newman cleared 4.73 the previous week at the Golden Gala in Rome in her first competition since a 4.85 effort for bronze at Stade de France on Aug. 7 when she became Canada’s first-ever Olympic medallist in women’s pole vault.

WATCH | Newman clears 4.85m for Olympic bronze in Paris:

“We are so close to the finish line but still hungry for more,” Newman said this week in an Instagram story.

On Sept. 6, 2019, the native of London, Ont., jumped 4.77 at the AG Memorial Van Damme in Brussels for third in the Diamond League Final.

Newman was also third in the 2017 season-ending championship when she set a then-Canadian mark of 4.75, one year after going 4.42 in her DL Final debut, also in Brussels.

Tebogo on torrid streak

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo will be looking to complete an undefeated post-Olympics season in the men’s 200m on Saturday at 3:07 p.m..

Since his surprise 200m triumph last month at the Summer Games, he has achieved three Diamond League victories, which should motivate him as he eyes his first Diamond Trophy.

WATCH | Tebogo rules men’s 200m at Weltklasse Zurich:

Richardson to run sprint double

In the women’s 100m on Friday at 3:01 p.m., reigning Olympic champion Julien Alfred will face American Sha’Carri Richardson, who clocked 10.84 seconds last week to beat the St. Lucian star in Zurich.

Richardson is also scheduled to race in Saturday’s 200m (2:17 p.m.). She won world bronze last year.

Kipyegon’s drive for 5 Trophies

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the Paris Olympic champion in the women’s 1,500m, is aiming for her fifth Diamond Trophy. She lowered her world record to three minute 49.04 seconds at the Meeting de Paris in early July.

Beatrice Chebet, who won Olympic gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m, is in Saturday’s field at 2:54 p.m. with Paris medallists Jessica Hull (silver) and Georgia Bell (bronze).

Nuguse has Ingebrigtsen’s number

Jakob Ingebrigtsen will attempt to make it three consecutive Diamond League Trophy victories in the men’s 1,500m on Friday.

The Norwegian’s biggest challenge in the 3:29 p.m. race could come from American Yared Nuguse, the Paris Olympic bronze medallist. Ingebrigtsen, who was fourth in that race, was second to Nuguse last week in Zurich by 31-100ths of a second.

Retired Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj holds the 1,500 world record of 3:26.00. Ingebrigtsen’s best is 3:26.73. He holds world marks in the indoor 1,500 and outdoor 2,000 and 3,000.

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