After bowing out of the Olympic women’s shot put final a month ago in Paris, Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, N.S., found redemption on Friday evening at the Diamond League Final in Brussels. Mitton had the only throw over 20 metres in the third round of the competition, winning her first Diamond League title and securing an automatic qualification spot for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Sarah Mitton is the 2024 Diamond League winner in the women’s Shot Put! 💎🇧🇪#AllianzMemorialvanDamme #GetReadyForTheBest #WandaDiamondLeague #BrusselsDL pic.twitter.com/PS71ewzRpV
— Allianz Memorial Van Damme (@MVDbrussels) September 13, 2024
Mitton’s best throw of 20.25 metres made history in Brussels as she became the first Canadian woman to win a Diamond League title in a field event. She joins London 2012 bronze medallist Dylan Armstrong as the only Canadian throwers to win a Diamond League title in the shot put event.
The last Canadian woman to win a Diamond League title was 100m hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep in the inaugural Diamond League season in 2010.
The 28-year-old entered last month’s Olympic Games ranked second in the world. As the reigning indoor world champion and outdoor world championship silver medallist, she was heavily favoured to end up on the podium. It wasn’t meant to be, as she slipped out of the throwing circle on her three attempts, eventually fouling out.
SARAH MITTON GETS IT DONE 🇨🇦
The Canadian fouls in her incredible final attempt, but her earlier throw of 20.25m clinched the Diamond League title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/DL4A5lf0iL
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) September 13, 2024
This result in the Diamond League Final against the top throwers in the world is redeeming for Mitton and a positive way to end her 2024 season heading into next year. Her personal best of 20.86m, set earlier this year, stands as the Canadian record.
