By Steve Keating
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – Australian Kelsey-Lee Barber won Commonwealth Games javelin gold on Sunday, after defending her world title last month and then overcoming a bout of COVID-19.
Barber, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in 2014 and silver in 2018, was nearly denied a ticket to Birmingham after testing positive for COVID while on her way to an Australian training camp following the worlds in Eugene, Oregon.
A week ago the 30-year-old was still testing positive but she was later cleared to compete.
“I wasn’t going to let it affect my performance today,” said Barber. “I had great confidence from the worlds and a good feel for my javelin, and I trusted that process.
“So today I was focused and knew what I wanted to achieve here.”
Barber looked as if she was going to settle for silver behind Mackenzie Little until unleashing a mighty effort of 64.43 metres on her final throw to snatch the title from her team mate by just 16 centimetres.
India’s Annu Rani completed the podium, taking bronze.
“I had an awesome start (63.52m in the first round) and then it just fell away during the competition,” said Barber. “But my mentality is every throw is an opportunity to show what I’m capable of.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Birmingham; Editing by Clare Fallon)
