Kelsey-Lee Barber (née Roberts; born 20 September 1991) is an Australian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw.[3] She won gold at the 2019 World Championships, and her personal best of 67.70 m ranks her 13th in the overall list.
 Kelsey-Lee Barber in Busto Arsizio in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kelsey-Lee Roberts |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 20 September 1991 East London, South Africa[1] |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] |
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Javelin throw |
| Coached by | Mike Barber |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best | 67.70 m (2019) |
Barber is based at the Queensland Academy of Sport in Brisbane. She was formerly based at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
Personal life
editBorn in East London, South Africa, Barber's family moved to Australia in 2000.[4] It was this relocation that setup the career of Barber.
Barber arrived in Australia during the Sydney Olympics and lived in Corryong in Victoria. Her uncle and aunt owned a dairy farm and she competed in athletics at the school carnival. She was so successful that she progressed in discus competitions through the zone and regional carnivals. She moved from Corryong to Canberra in 2007 and started taking athletics more seriously. She trained with a coach and at age 17 won the javelin at the Pacific School Games in Canberra.[5]
She married her coach Mike Barber after the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[6]
Career
editBarber made her international debut at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing third with 62.95 m. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without qualifying for the final. A back injury in early 2016 disrupted her preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics and she finished 28th in qualifying.[7]
Barber had a breakthrough season in 2017. She produced three consecutive personal bests in competitions in Turku, Lausanne and London. At the World Championships, she qualified automatically for the final and finished 10th. She finished the season with a silver medal at the Diamond League Final in Zurich and another personal best of 64.53 m.[3]
In 2018, she placed second at the national titles behind Kathryn Mitchell. Barber threw a new personal best of 64.57 m at the Queensland International Track Classic in Brisbane on 28 March. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games Barber received a silver medal with a 63.89 m throw.[8]
Barber won gold at the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships with a personal best and championship record 65.61 m throw. At the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern in July, she won gold and improved on her personal best, throwing 67.70 m. This also moved Barber to second on the Oceanian list behind Mitchell, and into 12th in the overall list.[9] She won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships with 66.56 m on the final throw, moving her from 4th to 1st place.[10] She was recognised in the Canberra Sport Awards as Female Athlete of the Year.[11]
In 2021, following the COVID-19 disruptions to competition, Barber threw 61.09 m to place second at the national titles.[12]
Barber won bronze in the final at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, throwing 64.56m.
At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Barber won a gold medal in javelin, making her the first woman to ever retain the women's World Championships javelin title.[13] Later that year, she also won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with a throw of 64.43m.
Competition record
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Australia
| |||||
| 2014[1] | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 3rd | Javelin throw | 62.95 m |
| 2015[14] | World Championships | Beijing, China | 20th (q) | Javelin throw | 60.18 m |
| 2016[15] | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 28th (q) | Javelin throw | 55.25 m |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 10th | Javelin throw | 60.76 m |
| 2018[16] | Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | 2nd | Javelin throw | 63.89 m |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | Javelin throw | 66.56 m |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | Javelin throw | 64.56 m |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 1st | Javelin throw | 66.91 m |
| 2022 | Commonwealth Games | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | Javelin throw | 64.43 m |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 7th | Javelin throw | 61.19 m |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 26th (q) | Javelin throw | 57.73 m |
Seasonal bests by year
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
References
edit- ^ a b "Glasgow 2014 - Kelsey-lee Roberts Profile". results.glasgow2014.com.
- ^ "2018 CWG bio". Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- ^ a b Kelsey-Lee Barber at World Athletics
- ^ Australian javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Roberts looking to make impact at 2015 world championships in Beijing Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- ^ "Kelsey-Lee Barber". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ Kelsey-Lee Barber uses Brisbane comeback as Olympic launching pad The Canberra Times
- ^ Adams, David Polkinghorne, Melissa. "Harnessing the power of her mind". Retrieved 27 July 2017.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Sunette adds javelin bronze to Team SA medal tally". Daily Voice. Cape Town. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ Kelsey-Lee Barber puts down Olympic marker with personal best The Australian
- ^ Report: women's javelin - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 IAAF
- ^ Dutton, Chris (19 November 2019). "Canberra sport awards: Kelsey-Lee Barber, Nathan Lyon and Capitals win big". Canberra Times. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
- ^ "Rohan Browning wins men's 100 metres national championship ahead of Tokyo Olympics". ABC News. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
- ^ "Australian Barber retains javelin world title". ESPN.com. 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Javelin Throw Women – Qualification" (PDF). Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ Dutton, Chris (16 August 2016). "Olympic Games 2016: Canberra javelin thrower Roberts' Rio campaign ends in tears". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Kelsey-Lee Roberts". GC2018. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
External links
edit
- Official website
- Kelsey-Lee Barber at World Athletics
- Kelsey-Lee Barber at the Australian Olympic Committee
- Kelsey-Lee Barber at Commonwealth Games Australia
- Kelsey-Lee Barber at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Kelsey-Lee Roberts at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Kelsey-Lee Roberts at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Kelsey-Lee Roberts at Olympics.com
- Kelsey-Lee Roberts-Barber at Olympedia