Aussies Rock Stade de France | Day 2 Recap
Published Fri 02 Aug 2024
Rose Davies and Claudia Hollingsworth progressing in style are just some of highlights at Stade de France on Day 2 of the Athletics program. Earlier, the tone was set by the high jump duo Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson, along with Bree Masters who broke a 24-year drought in front of 70,000 fans.
Women’s 5,000m – Rose qualifies for final and Izzi just misses
Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) has qualified for the Women’s 5000m Final with a fantastic run to finish fourth in heat 2, clocking 15:00.86, at Stade de France. Teammate Izzi Batt-Doyle (SA, Nic Bideau) also had a superb run but just missed progressing to the final by one place finishing ninth in 15:03:19.
Rose, the Australian Record Holder competing at her second Olympics, looked comfortable sitting near the front of the pack throughout. She backed her kick in the final lap and was so determined to make the final after missing by one spot at the 2023 World Championships.
“I've been running really well all season, so I just thought the Olympic Games is like any other race. I just came in here with that mindset and it paid off,” Rose said.
“I backed my kick and I know I have a strong last lap, so that's what I've been doing all year.”
Izzi was brave and didn’t leave anything to chance. She controlled the pace at the front of field from halfway until the final lap.
But when the big kick came at the bell she couldn’t quite match the pace to snatch a top eight finish. Yet she gave herself the best chance to qualify.
Lauren Ryan (VIC, Lara Rogers) ran in heat 1, finishing 13th in a time of 15:29.35. In hot conditions and a stacked field including the defending Olympic champion and World Champion Lauren was dropped from the lead pack at the first surge mid-race. She fought hard in the chase pack but never looked like making the top-8.
Women’s 800m – Hollingsworth into semis, Caldwell and Bissett not done yet
Claudia Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram) finished second in the final 800m heat, clocking a near personal best of 1:58.77, to progress to the Olympic semi-final.
The 19-year-old ran brilliantly to position herself well early and she managed to hold second place throughout and when the pressure and kicks came hard in the final 250 metres she stayed relaxed, was clearly desperate to qualify and ran superbly.
““I don't know how to feel. That was insane,” Claudia said.
“The race sort of went exactly as I thought. I just wanted to sit up second and stay second the whole race and then try and make a move. The girl that was leading held the pace pretty steady. I was expecting it to be fast, but it wasn't too crazy. I was hoping to make a move at 200, but just sat on her and felt people coming, so reacted a little bit, but, just stoked to be through to the semi. It's insane.
“It's probably the most relaxed I've been on a start line. Craig (Mottram, coach) just said, ’when you're out there, just look up, take a deep breath, and that's all. Don't look at it anymore!.’
Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) was also impressive and came very close to progressing to the semi-finals, when she ran a season best 1:58.49 to finish fifth in heat five.
She positioned herself well and made her move around the final bend and was third into the straight and finished really strong but it just wasn’t quite enough for a top three.
“It was a season's best. I feel like I gave it the best I could on the day and I wouldn't change how I raced it. There just happened to be stronger girls in the back half of that race than me, and that was me today.
“I'm certainly going to give it my all tomorrow and I'm certainly not done yet.
Catriona Bisset (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) was seventh in heat 4, with a time of 2:01.60, and will also now race the repechage. The Australian Record Holder was in a good front position early but got checked a few times and lost some position at a time when the pace kept winding up.
Abby and Catriona now have a short turnaround for the repechage race on Saturday, 7:15pm AEST, while Claudia gets a good break before the semi-finals on Sunday night in Paris (04:35am AEST Monday).
Men’s Decathlon – Injury forced out Moloney as Golubovic loving the struggle
In disappointing news for Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ash Moloney (QLD, Steve Rippon), and the team, Ash has withdrawn from the decathlon with a suspected adductor injury. Moloney withdrew ahead of the high jump after completing the 100m, long jump and shot put events earlier today.
Daniel Golubovic (QLD, Paul Pearce) is placed 20th after five events with 3,771 points. He finished day one with 1.93 metres in the high jump, just off his season best, and a 50.79s for the one lap of the track.
“This is one of the roughest decathlons I've had in the past five or six years, since first putting on the green and gold jersey,” Daniel said.
“But I'm absolutely loving every second of it. It’s the Olympic energy, the Olympic crowd. There's something different about it and it's absolutely just fantastic.
Women’s Discus – Gollshewsky throughs big Bundaberg best on Olympic debut
For nearly a decade Bundaberg’s Taryn Gollshewsky (QLD, Les Kuorikoski), 31, has been a consistent 59-61.00m discus thrower. In all that time Taryn has resisted the temptation to relocate to a high-performance city environment.
After missing the Tokyo Olympics when breaking her leg in the leadup, she finally made her Olympic debut in Paris – her 10th Australian team appearance.
In Paris she made the most of her Olympic opportunity, nailing a significant personal best of 62.36m on her second attempt in the qualifying rounds, and narrowly miss progression to the final by just 27 centimetres.
“That last PB was actually prior to me breaking my leg and I was told that I would never represent my country again. And so to come out here three years later to fulfill my dream and to throw a PB and to beat that distance that I had thrown before I broke my leg - its huge. That's massive.”
A key part of her journey has been her support network in Bundaberg including the school where she has taught for the last seven years.
“Shout out to the students and staff at St Pat's. I'm a PE teacher there and many of my students woke up in the wee hours of this morning to watch me compete. So thank you so much to Bundaberg and thank you so much to my school for all the support.”
Women high jump – Nicola and Eleanor soar into final
The auto standard for the final was 1.97m but eventually 1.95m would be sufficient to progress.
In pool A, Eleanor (NSW, Alex Stewart) placed second requiring two attempts at 1.92m, before going clean over 1.95m to clinch a finals berth and a season’s best.
“Fantastic to be able to get a feel of what the surface is like and feel an amazing crowd. I did not expect the crowd to be absolutely stacked. It was wildly electric and I'm excited for the final,” Eleanor said.
Nicola (NSW, Matt Horsnell) compiled a clean sheet in pool B clearing 1.88m, 1.92m and 1.95m to progress to the final as number one in her pool.
The Tokyo silver medallist has cleared a personal best and Australian Record of 2.03m this season and comes to Paris after a good training block and into the Olympics injury free.
“After the Paris Diamond League, I had a fantastic training block, which from Stockholm Diamond League to Paris Diamond League in that month, there was one jump session, in the entire session, the entire block,” Nicola said.
“But for this one, we've been able to jump consistently every week and be hitting the heights that I was doing out there today for the final.”
The Women’s High Jump Final is 3:50am Monday morning AEST.
Women’s 100m Heats – Masters through to semis and Connolly is fast
Bree Masters (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) ran brilliantly to place third in heat one to automatically qualify for the semi-finals with 11.26s (+0.1), behind the winner USA’s current world champion Sha'carri Richardson.
It was Bree’s third fastest time ever and she is the first Australian woman to reach the semi-finals since Melinda Gainsford-Taylor at Sydney 2000. Only Melinda and Raelene Boyle have run faster at the Olympics for Australia.
“I'm a bit speechless. I went in 6th fastest and then came out third. I'm so wrapped,” Bree said.
“The one goal to come here was to have fun and try and make that semi-final and also run the best I possibly can and I run a season's best. So hopefully a PB in the semi.”
Ella Connolly (NSW, Andrew Murphy) was also on point, running 11.29 (+1.5) for sixth in her heat. Her run on the purple track in Paris was her fastest time internationally. She was ranked 33rd in the heats.
“We've got four girls in individual events, so it shows that Australian sprinting is really on the up, which is exciting. Obviously, my teammate Bree is through to the semis, which is a really good sign also,” Ella said.
Men 1500m heats – Aussie trio to now race repechage
All three Australians missed automatic qualification in the Men’s 1500m heats. All get another chance in the repechage at 3:15am on Sunday morning.
In heat one Oliver Hoare (NSW, Dathan Ritzenhein) was 13th in 3:39.11. The Commonwealth Games champion who had shown good form in Europe before the Games was well positioned early but when the pace changed he couldn’t immediately respond and then got checked several times and lost touch from the top-6.
“It was pretty physical out there but that’s just racing,” Olli said.
“I wasn't able to close that last 300, 200 and just felt pretty sleepy out there. When you have that kind of field for a first round, it was pretty brutal.
Stewart McSweyn (TAS, Nic Bideau) took the initiative to lead in heat two, before the moves came with 450m to go. He got boxed in and then didn’t have the pace or the room to go around down the final straight, placing 11th in 3:36.55.
“I'm going to be there tomorrow. Anytime I wear the Aussie green and gold, I want to do us proud. I have a lot of family and friends here, so I want to put in a better performance and keep the championship in the 1500m going,” Stewart said.
Adam Spencer (VIC, Mick Byrne) was in the best position of the Aussies to get a top-six place to make the semis but again he didn’t have the kick in the final 300m in a stacked heat. Adam was eighth in heat three, 3:37.68.
“I would have loved to have gone straight through the semis, but the quality of the Olympics is unreal at the moment. Only 18 guys get through,” Adam said.
“I like to sit in and make a big move. The last 300, last 200, the last hundred. I thought I was in for a chance. I mean, I was actually pretty happy with today, but I'm excited to go again tomorrow night.”
By Andrew Reid, Athletics Australia and Australian Olympic Committee
Posted 3/08/2024
