MITCHELL JOHNSON: Schoolmate’s Olympic javelin final a special moment

The Olympic Games have always been special.

Of course, there’s huge anticipation and excitement surrounding an event that only comes around once every four years.

As a kid, I remember watching the Olympics with a feeling of being proud to see an Australian competing on the screen.

And I think the other reason I’ve always found the Olympics exciting is because it’s not just the usual sports we often see on TV, such as footy or cricket.

Athletes in many Olympic sports don’t receive the money, support or exposure of our mainstream professional athletes but can work just as hard chasing their dream. Paris is what they’ve been training for and now their time in the spotlight has finally arrived.

One of the lower-profile events that I’ve long had an interest in is the javelin throw.

Many sports fans might have forgotten the name Jarrod Bannister. He was the gold medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and still holds the Australian javelin record of 89.02m.

Though he was a few years younger than me, Jarrod and I went to the same school at Pimlico State High School in Townsville.

In my last year at school I decided to give javelin a go, as not many kids were throwing. So long story short, I started training to throw the javelin at school with Jarrod, who despite being three years younger, was already hurling it miles.

I remember him being a bit of a wild kid but he was very talented and athletics seemed to be an avenue to vent for him, just like it was for me to be honest.

Even though we never had any contact with each other after school, watching him compete at the 2008 Games in Beijing – where he made the final - is one of my most special Olympic memories.

I had vaguely followed a bit of his career to that point but to see him on that stage made me so proud. A Pimlico High kid from the Ville was now an Olympic athlete. That just doesn’t happen.

When I heard about him being selected for Australia, I was genuinely pumped for him. There’s a lot of hard work, time and commitment that comes with that.

Jarrod was having a big season in 2008, when he threw his national record in Brisbane, and not too long after that he was off to Beijing wearing the Aussie colours and giving it his all.

One of the great parts of watching some of the athletics events is how the athletes encourage the crowd to get behind them and feed off their energy before a jump or throw. I certainly didn’t need any pumping up myself and I was only watching from the couch!

It felt like all of Australia was behind him and I’m sure he felt that, especially in a sport like javelin which is not really a strength of ours. In fact, no Australian man has made an Olympic javelin final since.

It was a tough field in the Beijing final and Jarrod was probably nervous, although he was competitive at that level during the 12-man final. His best throw of 83.45m placed him sixth, just 50cm off fourth.

Jarrod sadly died in 2018 aged just 33. Although his career also contained some controversy, it included some amazing achievements, and he is clearly one of the best javelin throwers Australia has ever produced.

Rest in Peace, Jarrod.

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