For the first time in Australia's history, an athlete in Green and Gold stood atop the podium in the javelin for a global athletics World Championship.

Having spent most of the Doha 2019 IAAF World Championship javelin final in fourth place, it was Barber's last 66.56m throw that put her in first place ahead of China's Liu Shiying and Lü Huihui.

You can watch her Gold Medal throw at minute 12.

Barber enters next year's Olympics as a Gold medalist favourite.  She is not only determined to repeat her Doha heroics, but also make up for her disappointing Rio 2016 performance where a back injury resulted in her 28th place finish.

Speaking to the Olympics network she explained her preparation and expectations:

 “It’s understanding where I sit now, and appreciating that for what it is, but still doing my best to protect that training environment. Especially in the lead-up to the Olympics. Rio wasn’t great for me. I really have to turn that around and make Tokyo my best, and I’m going in saying that my goal for this Olympics is to be on the podium.”

For now, Barber can celebrate her Athletics Athlete of the Year title.  She won the award during an online Athletics Australia awards ceremony.