As Cricket lovers, we all know how destructive and deceptive Mitchell Starc can be as a bowler. He has demolished star-studded batting line ups single handedly and has been a proven match winner for Australia. In the last World Cup, he had been the leading wicket taker for Australia terrorising batting line-ups from all over the world. He is one of the most feared bowlers in the modern era.
The popularity of Mitchell Starc has overshadowed his brother Brandon Starc, who unknown to many is an international sportsman. He is the best Aussie high jumper and will be jetting off to Rio later in August to participate in the Olympic Games. He has set some lofty ambitions for himself and will try to fulfil all of these when he gets a chance to prove his mettle.
The last time an Australian won an Olympic medal in the high jump was way back in the year 1992 at Barcelona when Tim Forsyth won the bronze with a 2.34m medal winning leap.
In a recent interview, Brandon was asked if he was the best sportsperson in his family, to which he replied that he will give that tag to Mitchell as he had already achieved a lot in his career.
On being asked as to why the two brothers chose different sports, he was genuinely caught off-guard. “I don’t know. Well, he was a little chubby when he was younger. We all did athletics when we were kids. I just don't think his interest was as high as cricket,” he later quipped.
Brandon seems fascinated by the minute details and complexities of the high jump, though. “There’s the run-up, and for me, there are three or four parts to the run-up, then there’s the takeoff, then there's going over the bar. There are so many little bits that go into it. You need rhythm, position, you have to try to get enough space. But that's what you do in training. You try to perfect what you’re doing”
He further asserted that the variables in winning the competition vary a lot and it would be difficult to gauge as to what would be a good jump to win a medal at Rio. “Well, it’s hard to say. London was won in 2.35. Moscow World Championships [in 2013] was won in 2.40, Beijing was won in 2.34. There are so many variables. If I jump 2.30, 2.32, 2.33, then the others might start to worry a bit. I just want to put myself in that position”.
After his elder brother Mitchell , Brandon is all set to create history for Australia at the Rio Olympics and bring laurels for his country
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