Sarah Mitton claims first Diamond League shot put podium of the season in China
Team Canada’s Sarah Mitton is heating up at the right time in the shot put circle. Building on a year that has already seen her win the World Indoor Championship, she earned her first Diamond League podium performance of the season on Saturday with a second-place throw in Shanghai/Suzhou, China.
After missing the podium in the first Diamond League stop in Xiamen, China, the 27-year-old Brooklyn, Nova Scotia native returned to form on Saturday, with her first throw of the competition travelling 19.86m, good for the silver medal.
At the Glasgow 2024 World Indoor Championships in March, Mitton threw 20.22m to set a new indoor Canadian record, while her only other outdoor competition in 2024, the first Diamond League stop, saw her throw 19.35m.
Mitton also boasts the Canadian outdoor record, set at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in 2023, where she threw 20.33m in Langley, BC, the furthest throw in a success-filled season she’s bringing into 2024.
On Saturday, however, American and reigning outdoor world champion Chase Ealey topped the competition, throwing a season-best 20.03m, while China’s Jiayuan Song offered a moment of cheers for the home crowd with a 19.93m effort.
With her first Diamond League podium of 2023 in the rearview, Mitton looks to continue to push the success she found in 2023, a year that saw her secure her first Diamond League win, two silver medals, and a silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in August.
While Mitton’s success highlighted the day for Canadians in Diamond League action, 28-year-old Regan Yee posted a season-best time in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 9:26.12, good for ninth of 18 runners and improving on her time from the Xiamen season opener, where she clocked in at 9:31.47.
However, Canadian athletes weren’t only on the athletics stage in China. Veteran sprinter and reigning Olympic champion in the distance, Andre De Grasse, opened his outdoor season with a men’s 200m win at the East Coast Relays in Jacksonville, Florida, running the distance in 20.11 seconds on Friday night.
With strong performances secured in China, Mitton, Lee and the rest of the Diamond League field look towards the remaining 13 events of the season, with the next stop on the circuit set for Doha, Qatar on May 10.
Meanwhile, Canadian athletes will compete in competitions around the world over the weekend. The East Coast Relays will continue with De Grasse, Jerome Blake, and others, while Aaron Brown will hit the track in the Bermuda Grand Prix.
