Photo Credit: Sydney Thunder
Young gun Kate Peterson is planning to throw the javelin at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on top of establishing herself as an international-class fast bowler
Sydney Thunder’s Kate Peterson says it will take ‘a lot of hard work’, but she’s planning to throw the javelin at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on top of establishing herself as an international-class fast bowler.
The 18-year-old from Sydney’s north-west recently captured her first WBBL wicket by dismissing Melbourne Renegades – and Indian superstar – Harmanpreet Kaur in Launceston.
While Peterson said she’d long cherish that memory, she’s hoping to create others by ‘going big’ and juggling a career as a fast bowler and Olympic javelin thrower.
“I did javelin with cricket pretty much until last year,” said Peterson. “It was when I signed with South Australia and moved to Adelaide that I stopped, but it’s definitely something I’d look to get back into.
“It’s just something away from cricket that I really love and enjoy doing.”
Peterson, who last year sat just outside of the nation’s top 10 throwers aged under-20, said throwing the javelin helped to re-enforce the lessons cricket had taught her.
“Like cricket, you learn from javelin the harder you work, the further you throw,” she said. “However, javelin isn’t a team sport, you’re in it for yourself.
“I saw it as an opportunity to work and meet your goals. While I had higher aspirations, I left it on the backburner for a little while because of my cricket commitments.
“I made it into a national performance squad where we had training sessions and camps, but that was the last proper competition I did before I stopped.”
Nevertheless, she still follows Australia’s top javelin throwers and described it as “amazing” to watch three Australians compete in the final of the Tokyo Olympics, including 24-year-old MacKenzie Little, a former opponent.
While cricket remains her focus, Peterson said she planned to give her all to compete in Brisbane.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to go big,” said Peterson. “With the Olympics now coming to Brisbane it’s reignited my desire to get back into it.
“It will take a lot of training, a lot of hard work. I don’t know if it’s going to be possible with cricket, but it’s something I’d definitely be keen to look into and explore my options.”
The official who developed the national ranking system lists for Australia’s junior Track and Field athletes says Peterson’s javelin results suggested she was on track to representing Australia before focussing her energies on cricket.
David Tarbottom, who has served as a team official for national athletic teams; is a life member of Athletics Australia, and is widely respected for his painstaking work as his sport’s foremost statistician, said a study of Peterson’s throws said volumes about her talent.
“She threw 45.14 metres with a 500-gram javelin as a 17-year-old, and that’s very, very good,” said Tarbottom. “That distance would be very close to getting onto a national podium, but it also shows she had the potential to do something at a high level.
“She just missed out on a medal when she came fourth in the 2020 NSW State (Junior) Championships. Unfortunately for Kate, she would’ve missed her chance to compete at the Australian Championships [that same year] because COVID shut the competition down.
“But from looking at her performances, they indicate to me she had the ability, and the potential, to represent Australia at some level.”
Sydney Thunder WBBL|07 Schedule (All AEDT Start Times)
Sun 7 Nov | v Brisbane Heat | 10:15am | Adelaide Oval | Seven/Foxtel/Kayo
Tues 9 Nov | v Adelaide Strikers | 6:00pm | Karen Rolton Oval | Foxtel/Kayo/cricket.com.au
Thurs 11 Nov | v Perth Scorchers | 1:25pm | Karen Rolton Oval | Foxtel/Kayo/cricket.com.au
Sun 14 Nov | v Sydney Sixers | 1:40pm | Great Barrier Reef Arena | Seven/Foxtel/Kayo
Wed 17 Nov | v Melbourne Renegades | 7:05pm | Great Barrier Reef Arena | Foxtel/Kayo/cricket.com.au
Fri 19 Nov | v Brisbane Heat | 7:05pm | Great Barrier Reef Arena | Foxtel/Kayo/cricket.com.au
Sat 20 Nov | v Hobart Hurricanes | 3:40pm | Great Barrier Reef Arena | Foxtel/Kayo/cricket.com.au
