Work, rest and play – Kim Mickle

World javelin silver medallist Kim Mickle sprung to global prominence with her outstanding performance in Moscow.

We find out more about the Australian record-holder as she answers our work, rest and play questions.

KIM AT WORK

What is your favourite training session?

Kim Mickle: I love the gym and I call myself the gym junkie. Whenever I go to the gym, I always get super excited. We try to be like weightlifters in the gym in that I have my goals and I want to reach them, but if I don't achieve them it is not the end of the world because it is not essential for when I'm out on the athletics track throwing a javelin.

What is your least favourite session?

KM: Long running. I have one long run session each week – it is my shortest session of the week but it is the one I do not look forward to doing. Yet it does make me feel good afterwards.

What is your least favourite thing about being an athlete?

KM: Waking up in the morning being incredibly sore and then having to back it up again the next day, whether it is wet and raining or brutally hot. In athletics there's no such thing as a day off.

Who is your all-time favourite training partner?

KM: My first training partner was heptathlete Kylie Wheeler, who was a duel Olympian. I watched what she did and followed her. She gave me the kick start of how an athlete should train and how an athlete should behave outside of athletics.

Where is your favourite training venue?

KM: I like the set up I have training in Perth in Western Australia. The gym is right next to the track and the massage and treatment is also there as well. It makes training so easy because I only have to drive to the one venue to train.

KIM AT REST

Where is your favourite place to relax?

KM: Probably my bed. Yes, watching a movie in bed.

What is your favourite stress reliever?

KM: Coffee. I love my coffee. I only have two a day – one in the morning to help me wake up and I might have the other just before a competition to wake up or if I'm going out with friends.

Describe your perfect non-training day.

KM: Every Sunday is a non-training day for me, so I like to go out for breakfast or if I have a real sleep in I might push this out to lunch. I like to hang out with friends and family. I might go to the beach for a swim or to the pub to watch a band. My Sundays are pretty relaxed and often revolve around friends and family.

What is your favourite meal?

KM: Right now I'm into my salmon and making crazy salads. I also love my sushi. Japanese is among my favourite takeaways.

If you could pick one athlete with whom to relax for a day, who would it be and why?

KM: Dani Samuels (the 2009 world discus champion), my regular room-mate. We are like one and the same person. I know in Moscow (at the World Championships) we roomed together for about a month. You would think we would be driving each other insane but when one of us went to physio we’d miss each other, so in the end whichever one of us wasn't having treatment we would go along during the physio sessions to keep the other company.

KIM AT PLAY

When did your passion for guitar begin?

KM: When I was in year seven at school I found a guitar in my mum's closet. It literally had three strings on it but I asked my mum if I could start to play. My mum knows that when I start something, I tend to see how far I can take things and ever since then I've hardly put the guitar down.

What standard guitar player are you?

KM: I'm not too bad. I know pretty much every Metallica song. I haven't learned anything lately, but I've got a pretty good repertoire to pull out. I'd say I'm good enough to play at a party and have a bit of fun. I wouldn't go up on stage. I'd be too nervous!

Are there any transferable skills between javelin and playing the guitar?

KM: Yes, concentration and the finger skills needed to play the guitar are quite good for your forearms and with javelin forearm grip strength is quite important. Playing the guitar definitely doesn't hurt javelin and helps my mind to tick over. It is a good distraction. If I'm bored it stops me thinking about javelin and takes me into Kim land.

Who is your all-time favourite guitarist?

KM: Kirk Hammett of Metallica. When I first heard Metallica I thought each one of their riffs was so catchy. They have such a unique sound. When I found out more I discovered Kirk Hammett was the lead guitarist.

Imagine you are the band manager of an athletics rock band. Which athletes would feature in your band?

KM: It would be an all-Australian band. I'm going for Dani Samuels on drums because she'll bash the drums nice and hard. I'll go for Benn Harradine (Oceania discus record-holder) for lead guitar because I know he can really play and Julian Wruck (world discus finalist) can be my bassist. For lead singer I'll go for my fellow javelin thrower Kathryn Mitchell (2013 world javelin fifth-placer) because she loves her music. I'll call the band Chucktallica because we have three discus throwers and one javelin thrower.

Steve Landells for the IAAF