Athletics Interview

Mike Muckelt- ‘Sport is my life’

"I'm the nuts" 18-year-old South Downs College student- Mike Muckelt is a rising star in javelin, hoping to reach his peak talent level in time for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Mike can throw the Javelin 60M which has already ranked him 10th for the under 20s and last year he was ranked 2nd in the under 18s.

Mike has grown up around sport; he originally started off playing rugby for Hampshire and casual Sunday football. He says: ‘Sport is my life’. His sister is a gymnast and he has grown up around his dad coaching football and hockey. Mike has ‘grown up with sport’.

Whilst attending Petersfield Secondary School at the age of 15 he discovered his interest and talent for javelin and since then has stuck to a hard training regime of weights, gymnastics and other activities in order to push himself to the limit. 

Mike Muckelt: ‘In school I thought I was the nuts, then realized I wasn’t the nuts and now with all my training I am the nuts’.

Being ‘the nuts’ Mike picked himself up a sponsor: Anup-a Doctor from his area-has been sponsoring Mike in javelin.

Mike attends South Downs College and as well as sport he also studies biology and psychology . He left school with all As & Bs. He sees himself attending University in the future.

He often spends his free time training and revising to be the best he can be. Sport life has never interfered with his academic life.

Mike often participates in competitions and events. He has got competitions and training sessions every weekend for the next few months. Mike sees himself competing in the Olympics.

Mike says: ‘Most contenders in javelin are between 20 and 30 which is when they reach their best, so I would like to continue training to make the Tokyo Olympics, as Rio is too soon to compete’.

All the competitions take up a lot of his time especially as he is a member of Portsmouth, Southampton and Hampshire Athletics clubs. But Mike is still enthusiastic to do more and constantly trying to better himself by attending the gym to train 18 hours a week.

Mike also has a part time job at Havant Leisure Centre as a swim trainer.

His busy lifestyle is just a sign of things to come. Look out for Mike Muckelt – a great contender - at future Olympics. We are looking at a potential gold medalist in the making.