World Championships medal just what Dr Little ordered

From lifesaver to showstopper, few find peace in the chaos like New South Wales Institute of Sport athlete, Mackenzie Little.

Less than two weeks after saving a man’s life at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, Little launched the javelin 63.58m to win her second World Championships bronze medal – proving one thing to herself more than anyone else.

There is no denying that Little’s double life is a talking point. When the javelin sails she looks like a genius and when it flops some question her commitment, but Little loses more sleep over night shifts than criticisms of unfulfilled potential.

“I don’t think I have been out here chasing validation. I have had some really well-meaning advice about stepping back from medicine and taking athletics more seriously. I have thought about it and decided that it’s not the path I want to take forward.”

It is far from a new trade-off, with Little balancing her athletic talents with career ambitions for over a decade, including forgoing the 2014 World Under 20 Championships due to study commitments.

Now a two-time World Championships bronze medallist at 28-years-old, the Stanford graduate bounced back to form in Tokyo after her Paris Olympic campaign saw her slump to 12^th place as a genuine medal contender.

“Whenever you get caught up in trying to prove yourself through medals, you can go astray. This is such a reward for myself for some really hard work and lonely work this season, I would like to think it’s a bit of redemption from the Olympics,” Little said.

“It was really hard to maintain that sense of self-belief and motivation for training. I do this for me and I do this for my family, and I’m really proud of myself for this season.”

Coached by Angus McEntyre, Little was largely left out of medal discussions for the 2025 World Athletics Championships. The Australian had been well short of her 66.27m career-best all year, surpassing 60m for the first time in August, before unleashing a 65.54m throw in the qualifying round of the World Championships.

The result steered the four-time national champion back on course to the podium, with the doctor tipping her annual leave balance into the negatives to keep her athletics dream alive.

“Work makes the stress of competition more manageable. I feel like I thrive in the high-pressure situations. At least, that’s what I say in my surgical interviews,” Little said.

“I’m someone who likes being busy and I like having that pressure. I can compete and thrive in it.”

Starting her work days before 7am and training up to 12 hours later, Little concedes that the thought of the life lived by other world-class athletes does cross her mind, but those moments are fleeting in her life of fulfilment.

“Getting to training at the end of really long days and thinking about other athletes that might be sleeping in, having a nice big lunch, doing recovery and getting eight hours sleep – sometimes I think that might be nice,” Little said.

“But it is my choice and I own it, who am I to complain? It’s such a privilege.”

Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics