UQ student Mitchell Watt has continued his meteoric rise to the top of world long jump, taking out the event at the Brisbane Athletics Classic on February 6 with a massive leap.
Watt’s jump of 8.15m was a Brisbane Athletics Classic meet record and sealed his second title for the year.
The 21-year-old commerce/law student and UQ Sport scholar has gone from strength to strength since his world championships bronze medal win in Berlin last August.
When Mr Watt took up casual long jump training in the summer holidays of 2007 little did he know that within two years he would be chasing Olympic silver medallist Jai Taurima’s Australian record of 8.49m.
His long jump career took off in 2009, kick-starting the year with a jump of 8.04m on the Gold Coast. He went on to leap 8.11m and finish second at the World Athletics Tour in Melbourne.
Mr Watt took five years out from track and field to try his hand at other sports including AFL and rugby, but with his long legs and sprint pace his true talent shone in the long jump pit, and with just one year of training he was selected for the Australian 2009 World Athletics Championship team.
He now plans to move to Europe with his coach Gary Bourne to gain experience and immerse himself in the world of professional sport.
“Life has changed a lot since my career took off and I am very grateful to the University for assisting me in achieving my goals and helping to build a base for my professional career after sport,” Mr Watt said.
“I have my sights set on Commonwealth, and maybe even Olympic Gold, but I believe it is important for athletes to have some other qualifications and career goals behind them because sporting careers can be cut short and always come to an end at some point.”
Mr Watt will compete for a place on the Australian Commonwealth Games team when he competes at the National Athletics Championships in April.
Media: Lisa Statham at UQ Sport (07 3346 7518, 0400 788 018, lisas@uqs.com.au)
