Mackenzie Mielczarek - 2023 Javelin Tour

My name is Mackenzie Mielczarek, I’m a 20 year old javelin thrower from Australia. I’ve been involved with track and field and been doing javelin for over 11 years now and it’s always been my dream to do it professionally. I’ve come to a point where I’m right on the cusp of making my dream a reality and am currently taking the next steps to further my career and ultimately get one step closer to my goals.

So far in my athletic career I’ve achieved many of my goals however I have a long way yet to go in achieving them all. I started little athletics in under 9s and fell in love with Javelin. So far I’ve won 5 national age group titles, been apart of 3 national teams, those being the 2021 Australian world u20 team which unfortunately didn’t go ahead due to covid and safety concerns in Nairobi, the 2022 Australian Oceania Athletics Championships team where I won the U20 women’s javelin and finally the 2022 Australian World U20 Championships team where we travelled to Colombia and I came 9th. 2022 was a really difficult year for me, representing Australia at the World U20s was a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, however a couple weeks before our departure I developed severe pain in my foot which I later found out was a stress fracture. Going into those championships injured was a really difficult experience for me, not only was I in pain everyday simply walking but I had to try to compete, all while knowing I wasn’t at my best physically, which mentally, made it really tough. After my qualifying round I found myself in tears under the stadium in pain and disappointed that I’d worked so hard to get there only for it to feel like it was all coming crashing down. I went into the final all taped up and unsure what to expect, I finished 9th and quite a way off my personal best, disappointment was all I felt after that. As athletes we never want to get injured, we definitely don’t want to get injured right before our biggest competitions but that’s sport and it happens. As disappointed as I was I’ve since realised that it was actually a really positive experience that taught me a lot and has only made the desire to achieve more grow exponentially. I’ve taken the time since August (2022) to get strong and build a technical model that’s going to last. I’ve also taken this time to really solidify my goals and plan the best way to achieve those, so this year I’ve got a training/technical focus as well as a “lets network, set up a strong foundation and base for the future” focus to support my athletics moving forward and to give myself the best chance to achieve my goals.

I have some pretty big goals for javelin, a couple of which I’m lucky enough to have achieved but the remaining being to compete at the commonwealth games, world championships and the Olympics. All of these events take place during the ‘off season’ here in Australia and will require me to travel, train and compete abroad. The prospect of spending several months abroad training and competing sounds like a dream and for me it is, however it does come with its challenges and obstacles to navigate. The likelihood of having someone with me every time I travel is very low so that’s where planning, networking and setting up ‘base camp’ becomes extremely important. This year likely about mid May 

I will be heading over to Europe to do just that. This will be my first time heading to Europe and first time going abroad as a senior athlete with training, growth and development as the goal. From this trip we hope to establish a ‘base camp’ of sorts for the years to come which will be imperative in supporting my pursuit of achieving my goals as the international season becomes my focus moving into the open age group.

In an ideal world I’d just jet off to Europe and do everything I can to one day achieve my goals and follow my dream of doing this professionally without limitation. Unfortunately it’s not that easy. These things take a lot of time and effort to plan and it comes at quite the cost. I’m very lucky that my family is so supportive and have done everything they can to make my dreams come true. Up until this point I’ve relied on them to cover majority of the expenses that come with elite sport however now I’m at an age and a point where I’d like to contribute and take that burden off of them. However being an athlete with the training hours and commitments I have makes it almost impossible to work the necessary hours to support myself and also fund an international training trip. In the perfect world I’d be able to work a 9-5 job, train at an elite level and still manage to find time to myself but that’s just not possible and is a limiting factor for many talented young athletes, particularly in Australia being so far away from necessary competitions and training opportunities, our only option is to travel.

This is a pivotal moment in my career as my ability to pursue my goals of training and competing at a high level depend on the success of this trip and my goals of networking and building a foundation for the years to come. In elite sport truly anything helps, if you’re in a position to donate it will be unbelievably helpful and appreciated even if I don’t reach my goal every little bit helps. And if you’re not in a position to donate, just showing your support by sharing my story and following my journey is just as helpful and I appreciate everybody in my corner, this isn’t a career many can pursue alone so any support I have helps and will bring me one step closer to making my dreams a reality.