Mickle stirred up for home throw show
Kim Mickle hopes Achilles soreness which has troubled her in recent weeks will be a blessing later in the year as she aims to break her own national record and achieve another world championships podium finish.
Mickle is the hometown star at the Jandakot City Track Classic at the WA Athletics Stadium tomorrow night but must receive final approval from her doctor today to confirm she will take part in a crack javelin field which includes Australian teammates Kelsey-Lee Roberts and Kathryn Mitchell.
Mickle threw off a half run-up yesterday and got through unscathed.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist and 2013 world championships silver medallist said soreness through both Achilles, particularly her right, had been troubling her for the past three weeks.
Mickle, 30, pulled out of the Canberra Track Classic last week and is desperate not to do the same at her home event.
However, serious damage could derail her dreams of Olympic glory in Rio de Janeiro next year.
"My coach and I are pretty happy with the way things are going but medical-wise she (the doctor) is the boss," Mickle said.
"We'll hopefully get the go ahead from her and start getting my head prepped for a big throw.
"Once I'm in comp mode nothing stops me. I think that's why they've been really cautious about it because they know that when I'm in a comp I'm going to give it 100 per cent.
"If anything feels wrong I'll just pull the pin, but I'm pretty confident it's going to be right."
Mickle said the only way to improve the ailment was rest and didn't rule out skipping the Adelaide leg of the series if she pulled up sore after competing.
She said repeated jumping and bounding work had caused the flare-up but was not worried about it derailing a big year.
"Last year my average for my domestic season was 65m, which was just insane," Mickle said.
"My average for my international throws was 63 so I'm hoping I'm doing it the other way round now.
"We are building through the domestic season and then arcing up for when it really matters.
"I may have actually overstepped my mark last year in terms of throwing way too well at this time last year so it could be a blessing in disguise."
Mickle said the contest tomorrow night was sure to be of a high standard, especially in the wake of Roberts and Mitchell throwing A-qualifiers in Canberra.
"We'll hopefully get the go ahead … and start getting my head prepped for a big throw." " *Kim Mickle *on her injury concern
