Hundreds of Sarah Mitton fans cheered on the Olympian on Friday afternoon at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

It was a disappointing result for Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton on Friday in the shot put at the Olympics in Paris, but for the hundreds gathered at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool, she’s still a hometown hero.

It was a boisterous crowd that cheered Mitton on at the live viewing party as she tried for Olympic gold in the shot put. People were decked out in red and white and waved Canadian flags. Every time Mitton showed up on the big screen, people erupted into cheers and applause.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Mitton’s day.

After three throws, Mitton did not make the cut for the final eight competitors. Her best throw was 17.48 metres in rainy and wet conditions.

Her third throw appeared to be close to the 20-metre mark, but she fouled out after losing her balance and stepping out of the throwing circle.

Mitton was a favourite going into the Olympics, after dominating most events this year. She won the World Athletics Indoor Championship in March and broke her own Canadian record three times. She also qualified easily for the Olympic final, with her first throw of 19.77 m.

Before the event, anticipation was building for the 250 people gathered at the Astor to watch Mitton compete live. 

People travelled from around the South Shore and beyond to cheer her on.

Karen Hofrichter of Hubbards was there with her granddaughter Lily Lantz of Chester. Hofrichter and Lantz arrived an hour before the viewing party and snagged seats front row centre.

Lantz is a 14-year-old shot put athlete herself at Chester Area Middle School. She said she was at the Astor to cheer on her idol. 

Hofrichter said the result wasn’t what they expected, but she’s confident Mitton will be back.

“Unfortunate. It was a tough day, tough with the weather, I think. Not everyone was doing their best. But you know what? We still love her. She gave it her all. And she can regroup and come back. We know she’s got it in her.”

Lantz said that the conditions didn’t help. Early on in the final round, another athlete slipped on the rainy surface and fell after her throw.

“I personally feel like (Mitton) might have gotten in her head after that one girl had slipped,” Lantz said.

“She tried her best and unfortunately lost her balance on that one throw, her good one out in the 20s. Which is OK, she tried her best and she’s gonna come back and she’s gonna hit harder.”

Ruth Anne Zwicker of Liverpool said despite the result, she’s still proud of what Mitton has accomplished.

“I’m so proud of Sarah. She’s worked so hard. My heart’s sad for her today because I know this isn’t where she wanted to be. But I’m excited that her mom (Bonnie) is there with her today. And proud to be a Canadian.”

Dave McKiel of Alberta was visiting his parents and watched Mitton compete.

“I know that the community is very proud of her and her efforts up to this point. It’s kind of disappointing that she didn’t advance today but she’ll receive a hero’s welcome the next time she’s back because everybody is super proud of her efforts.”

“The turnout and the crowd, you can tell the community loves her and supports her.”

German athlete Yemisi Ogunleye won gold in the event, with New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche taking silver  and China’s Jiayuan Song capturing bronze.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Liverpool artist Jane Stevenson created this tribute to Sarah Mitton on Wednesday in the sand at Summerville Beach. (Jane Stevenson photo)

For most people, a day at the beach might involve some swimming or lounging on the sand.

For Jane Stevenson, a day at the beach involves creating a 120-by-60-foot piece of sand art as a tribute to Olympic shot putter Sarah Mitton.

The Liverpool artist’s creation on Summerville Beach featured an 85-foot Eiffel Tower with a Canadian flag in the middle and the Olympic rings at the base, with Paris 2024 on one side and “Go Sarah!” on the other.

“She’s a friend and she’s a marvellous person,” Stevenson says of Mitton, who is from Brooklyn.

“I’m enjoying drawing in the sand and I thought what a great thing to be able to do. So I started with the rings one day and I thought that’s not enough. So I stuck a little Eiffel Tower on it and looked at it at home and said that’s not good enough. So, four more tries and not succeeding. Finally, new strategies and a little more homework on the design, on the fifth try, it all came together.”

Stevenson created it in about two and a half hours late Wednesday afternoon. 

She shared a photo and drone video to her Facebook profile Wednesday evening. That post was shared widely. And CBC’s Olympics reporter Devin Heroux posted the photo on his Twitter feed Thursday morning after Mitton qualified for the shot put final.

“It’s gone far and wide, so that’s kind of cool. And lovely comments about it. So that’s really nice too. People really enjoyed the picture and the sentiment behind it. It was fun.

“That’s the most far-reaching anything I ever do will get. So that’s quite a compliment to have them want to do that with it. So I’m pleased with that, it’s more than I thought would happen with it.”

It was Stevenson’s fifth time trying to get her design down in the sand, after plotting it out precisely on paper.  

“The first one went down on the sand on the 27th of July, so between then and yesterday I finally got it right.”

She and her husband Garth used a very long tape measure and a homemade compass to plot out the basic lines of the piece. And then she used a rake to fill in the detail of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings.

Stevenson says that she used the drone only once as she was putting it together.

“Just eyed it. Did it by eye. My lines and my paper that I was going off of were really precise and then we really measured precisely this last time. I had my homework really well done on the fifth try. And then you can just can tell visually that it looks alright. It was math, and drawn lines.”

Stevenson has created eye-popping pieces of public art before, most recently for a Privateer Days parade float for the Mersey Rose Theatre Company. That featured a huge tea party set for the company’s upcoming production of Alice in Wonderland Jr. She’s also created displays for the Astor Theatre, including a life-sized Barbie doll package.

She’s done six or seven other beach art pieces this summer, but this one was the biggest and most complicated. She started at 4 in the afternoon near low tide and finished it around 6:30, racking up about 50,000 steps along the way. 

“I thought I’d won the gold medal, the gold medal in the Olympic sand drawing. It was a very good feeling to get the result I wanted.

“This was fun to do. I really wanted it to work for Sarah. … Not bad for a day at the beach.”

She’s not sure if Mitton has seen it yet, but she knows her mother Bonnie has. Stevenson says she’ll be at home on Friday afternoon cheering on Mitton as she goes for gold.

Mitton qualified for the final on Thursday with her first throw, which was also the farthest in the field.

The Astor Theatre is holding a live viewing party of the shot put final from 2 to 4 p.m. It’s free to everybody. The final is scheduled to begin at 2:37 p.m. Atlantic time.

“On the edge of our seats. She’s looking pretty good. This morning it looked effortless for her. She qualified so easily. I have good feelings for her tomorrow. I think she’ll do well. She’s worked hard, she’s ready.”

Stevenson says she appreciates all the positive feedback she’s received on her beach sand tribute.

“Thank you to everybody who has commented on it. That means a lot as well that they have enjoyed it so. That’s made it even more worthwhile. And, go Sarah!”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com