Brooke set to leap into the World Champs

Brooke set to leap into the World Champs

On Day 9 of the IAAF World Championships, we get to see 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Brooke Stratton for the first time.

It is the qualifying round in the women’s long jump, and Brooke needs to jump 6.75m or be in the top 12 to progress through to the final. The qualification is on at 5:50pm (12:50am 6 Oct AEST).

To start the day though, we will see Brianna Beahan, Michelle Jenneke and Celeste Mucci in the women’s 100m hurdles. To get through to the semi-final the women need to be the one of the first four in their heat or have one of the next four fastest qualifying times. Brianna Beahan is in heat 2 at 5.23pm local time (12:53am 6 Oct AEST). Celeste Mucci is in heat 3 at 5:31pm local time (12:31pm 6 Oct – AEST). Michelle Jenneke is in heat 5 at 5:47pm local time (12:47am 6 Oct – AEST).

Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m teams will be on display on Day 8. The men’s team is made up of Australian co-captain Steve Solomon, Alex Beck, Ian Halpin and Murray Goodwin. Their heat is on at 8:25pm local time (3:25am 6 Oct – AEST).

The women’s team is made up of the youngest Australian to ever wear the green and gold at the World Championships – Ellie Beer (16y 268 days) and Lauren Boden who is representing Australia for the 5^th time at World Athletics Championships. Also in the team is Bendere Oboya and Rebecca Bennett, they are off at 7:55pm local time (3:55am 6 Oct – AEST).

To finish off the night, it is back to the Corniche where Julian Spence will compete in the men’s marathon at 11:59pm local time (6:59am 6 Oct – AEST).

Day 9 of the Championships is being shown on Eurosport 11:25pm - 10:00am.

Brianna Beahan is in the women’s 100m hurdles at 5.23pm local time (12:53am 6 Oct AEST)

Club: Uni of WA
Event & PBs: 100m hurdles 13.02 (Perth AUS, 13 Jan 2018), 100m 11.54 (Perth AUS, 12 Mar 2016) Coach: Ryan Purcell
Social Media (Twitter/Instagram):  @BriannaBeahan / brianna_beahan
International Champs & medals:
Commonwealth Youth Games: (2008 100H bronze, 4x100 silver)
World University Games (2013)
World Relays (2015, 2019)
Commonwealth Games (2018)

Brianna, an active child, started in the sport when her mother enrolled her in Little Athletics aged 10 as she had an interest in sport. It was prompted by Betty Cuthbert (who lived next to her Aunt) telling her she had sprinters calves. She has always been a strong sprinter, alongside her speciality the short hurdles. At age 15 she was second at the national schools in a quick 100m time of 12.09w. During her 20s she steadily improved her PBs. There was major progress in 2015 when Brianna was 23. During that summer she brought her hurdles best down from 13.48 to 13.18. Her speed was impressive too running 11.63, which earned her a place in the Australian 4x100m relay team which competed at the 2015 IAAF World Relays.

More progress in the Olympic year 2016 down to 13.03, she remained 0.03 seconds outside a Rio qualifier. She ran a windy 12.96 (2.3m/s) in 2017, then a PB 13.02 in January 2018 and third at the Commonwealth Games trials saw her compete at the Games where she placed fifth on the Gold Coast. In 2019 she was second at nationals and first at the Oceania Championships.

Nickname/s - Beejay, Beej, B, BB Gun, Bri, Hobbies - Photography, hiking, coastal walks, coffee, green thumb… Education - Bachelor of Science (Occupational therapy) at Edith Cowan University…Memorable moment - “Winning first national title in 2006 for the 90m hurdle, qualifying for the World University Games in Kazan, Russia and 2018 Commonwealth games finalist in the 100m hurdles”…Hero - Sally Pearson “Looked up to her and her ability.”… Influence – coaches Alan Savage and Ryan Purcell and parents…Primary/secondary school Connolly Primary and Ocean Reef Senior H…Sporting ambition – “Ultimately, to be an Olympic finalist.”…First junior club - Joondalup Little Athletics Club…Advice to your young self – “Be patient and trust the process. Especially enjoy the ride, at times it may feel as though it’s a long road, but, in the scheme of things it’s pretty short! So, make every moment count.”… Interesting facts – “I’m a cat mum!”

Michelle Jenneke is in the women’s 100m hurdles in heat 5 at 5:47pm local time (12:47am 6 Oct – AEST).

Club & State: Sydney Uni, NSW Resident: Sydney

Event & PB: 100m hurdles 12.82 (Brisbane AUS, 29 Mar 2015)

Coach: Ash Mahoney

Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): @MJenneke93/MJenneke93

International Champs & medals: Youth Olympic Games (2010 silver) World Juniors Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018) Continental Cup (2018) World Championships (2015, 2017) World Indoors (2016, 2018) Olympic Games (2016) World University Games (2015 bronze, 2017)

Michelle Jenneke started training with her first coach Mick Zisti when she was ten-years-old and competed for Cherrybrook Little Athletics Club (after one year at Ryde Little Athletics). In 2010, she placed second in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Two years later she was a finalist at the world junior championships in Barcelona.

After an injury in 2013, she made a successful senior international debut in 2014, progressing to the final at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Against the clock, she progressed significantly in 2015. She started the year with a best of 13.23, but by the end of 2015 she had run nine times quicker and slashed her best to 12.82 to become the second fastest in Australian history. She also progressed to the semi-final at the 2015 World Championships and won bronze at the 2015 World University Games.

After placing fourth in her heat at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in March, she won the national title in an Olympic qualifying time of 12.93. In Rio, she placed sixth in her heat and didn’t progress to the next round. In 2017 she compiled a strong domestic season running 12.99 in March - her fifth sub-13 second time of her career. At the National Championships in April, she placed third. At the 2017 World Championships, she ran well in the heats to progress to the semi-final of the 100m hurdles. Two weeks later, in late August, she was again in competition at the World University Games, placing eighth in the 100m hurdles final.

She went into the 2018 Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games trials ranked third in Australia, but rose to the occasion to place second to Sally Pearson and courtesy of her earlier A qualifying mark, achieved automatic selection for her second Games. In early March 2018 she competed at her second IAAF World Indoor Championships, progressing to the semi-final in the 60m hurdles and in April placed fourth in the Commonwealth Games final.

Profile - She became an internet sensation, as the “Dancing Hurdler”, after footage of her pre-race warm-up dancing was captured at a 100 metres hurdles heat at the 2012 World Junior Championships went viral. Currently, one version of the video has amassed more than 30 million views on YouTube…Nickname – Shelly…Other sports - Played soccer with the boys for 12 years, and at school played representative European handball, futsal, outdoor soccer and touch football…Education - Engineering (Mechatronics), University of Sydney (graduated 2019)

Celeste Mucci is in heat 3 of the 100m hurdles at 5:31pm local time (12:31pm 6 Oct – AEST)

State: VIC

Event & PBs: 100m 11.60 (Canberra AUS, 28 Jan 2019), 100m hurdles 13.02 (Götzis AUT, 25 May 2019)

Coach: Darren Clark Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): -/celeste.mucci

International Champs & medals: World Juniors (2016, 2018) World Relays (2019) World University Games (2019 silver 4x100m relay) Commonwealth Games (2018)

Celeste Mucci started in the sport when state high jump coach Darren Clark spotted her in year six at a primary school carnival. “She was not winning but looked to be a very talented athlete,” said Clark. “At the first training session she was quiet and didn’t say much, but I thought afterwards this kid has got something.” Within a couple of years, Celeste had started to compile some impressive marks in the 100m hurdles and high jump and was logically competing in the multi-events. Aged 15, in 2015 she scored 5430 (U18 implements) in a heptathlon. Her long jump and sprinting was also improving. The next year (2016) she competed at the World Juniors pacing 17th. In 2017 she really started to improve domestically she had now scored 5628 and in April travelled to her former hometown, Florence in Italy, to compete at Multistars, a senior international competition, where she again increased her PB, this time to 5721 included three individual PBs. In December 2017 she broke the national junior record which had stood for 27 years, with a tally of 5870 points.

In 2018 she won the Commonwealth Games trials and placed fourth at the Games with another PB/national junior record score of 5915. In July she competed at her second World Juniors/U20 Championships. Domestically in 2019 she added the 100m and 100m hurdles to her program, with impressive results. She won the Canberra Track Classic 100m in a PB 11.60 and set a 100m hurdles PB and won the national title along with the heptathlon. She became the first athlete to claim this double since Jane Flemming in 1994. In May she competed in the Gotzis Heptathlon where she set another hurdles PB time of 13.02 – now the equal 5th fastest in Australian history. In July at the World University Games, she had problems in the 100m hurdles heats, but helped the 4x100m relay team to silver.

Interesting facts – speaks Italian…Influence: Parents and coach because they’re always there to support me...Hero - Jessica Ennis-Hill…Hobbies - the beach…

Brooke Stratton is in the long jump qualification at 5:50pm local time (12:15am 6 Oct – AEST)

Club & State: Athletics Nunawading, VIC

Resident: Melbourne

Event & PB: Long Jump 7.05m (Perth AUS, 12 March 2016)

Coach: Russell Stratton

Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): brookestratts/brookestratton

International Champs & medals: World Youth Championships (2009) World Juniors (2010, 2012) World Championships (2015, 2017) Continental Cup (2018 silver) Olympics (2016) Commonwealth Games (2018 silver) World Indoors (2016)

Brooke Stratton started athletics aged five at Nunawading Little Athletics Centre. Her interest in the long jump was sparked when she won the under-9 state title. She compiled a tremendous junior career, starting with the World Youth Championships in 2009 where she placed 10th. She followed this with two appearances at the world juniors in 2010 and 2012.

Selected for her senior debut in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she was forced to withdraw with an injury. In 2015, she competed at the world championships leaping 6.64m in the qualifying round. Brooke started 2016 with a PB of 6.73m, but over five weeks during the domestic season she improved her PB to 6.79m, then 6.94m and finally on March 12, 7.05m. The last performance broke the 14-year-old Australian record. A week later she placed fifth at the World Indoor Championships with a leap of 6.75m. At the Rio Olympics, Brooke was brilliant, placing seventh in the final with a leap of 6.74m.

Injured during the Australian summer, she resumed competition in Europe and was tremendous at the 2017 World Championships with a series included leaps of 6.67m, 6.67m and 6.64m, placing sixth in the final - the highest place by an Aussie in the event, surpassing some of our greats, Bronwyn Thompson, Nicole Boegman and Robyn Lorraway. In just her second competition of the 2018 season, she won her third national long jump title with a leap of 6.66m and at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games won silver (6.77m).

Queenslander Naa Anang improved in 2019 and provided a great challenge for Brooke, however, Brooke still had a great year with four competitions over 6.70m.

Diet - In April 2013 she was diagnosed with coeliac disease and was found to be gluten intolerant. She had been struggling with fatigue for the majority of the previous two years. After a change of diet improved came…Education - Health Sciences (Deakin University 2013 – June 2019)…Sporting highlights - 7th 2016 Rio Olympics, Australian Long jump record (7.05m) and silver 2018 Commonwealth Games…Hobbies - walks, Netflix, photography…Influence – She has been coached by her father, Russell, for the past 16 years. “My father- Russell Stratton. He has believed in me and my ability from the get-go. His positivity and outlook on life has really inspired me to go after my goals no matter what.”… Sporting Relatives – “My siblings have competed at a national level in long jump.” Older brother Jamie and sister Kristy…Nickname – Brookey and Stratts… Hero: “Bronwyn Thompson. She was the previous Australian record holder and achieved some incredible results for our country. She helped me believe I could one day be in a similar position.”

Julian Spence is in the men’s marathon at 11:59pm local time (6:59am 6 Oct – AEST).

Club & State: Ballarat Harriers, VIC

Coach: self

Resident: Ballarat

Event & PB: Marathon 2:14.42 (Lake Biwa Otsu JPN, 10 March 2019)

Career Marathons: 9 + 5 Great Ocean Road 44km marathons

Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): @romeothemoose/romeothemoose

Ballarat’s Julian Spence starting running in his early 20s “with a few buddies for a football preseason and then decided to cancel the footy season and just run that year.” He made his marathon debut on 2 November 2008 running in the Portland 3-Bays marathon in Victoria clocking 3:04.48 and just over 10 years later he has been selected to run for Australia at the 2019 IAAF World Championships.

After his marathon debut in 2008 and in his second year of running, he ran an impressive 2:27.34 in the 2009 Melbourne Marathon. University studies and work would delay his return to the 26-miler until 2014, running 2:27.30 in Melbourne. Over the next few years he maintained the same running levels running 2:28.00 in Senshu JPN (2015), 2:26.10 in Melbourne (2016) and 2:35.09 at the O’Keefe Rail Trail (early 2017). But in late 2017 the breakthrough occurred in the Berlin Marathon when he ran a 7:27 minute PB time of 2:18.43. He ran two minutes faster on the same course in 2018 (2:16.39). But his progression was not finished and six months later (March 2019) he again sliced two minutes from his PB clocking a Doha world championships qualifying time of 2:14.42 at Lake Biwa in Japan. In July 2019 he was announced in the Australian team for the 2019 IAAF World Championships.

Running has impacted his life in many ways, after graduating from University with degrees in Arts (Indonesian) and Health, Nutrition and Food Science he started work as the manager of The Running Company – Geelong. He met his now fiancé Brianne Hook, a co-worker there. In 2016 they relocated to open The Running Company – Ballarat. On 1 November 2017 he and two marathon running friends, launched the successful ‘Inside Running Podcast’ which has now reached 91 episodes. He also is a coach/director with RunStrongOnlineCoaching.

Occupation - running store owner and coach…Secondary school - Oberon High School, Geelong…Education - Bachelor of Arts (Indonesian) Deakin University, Geelong  (2010) and Bachelor of Health, Nutrition and Food Science, Victoria University, Werribee (2012)…Hobbies - beer and wine studies… Other sports - played for Geelong U18 in AFL…Nickname -  Moose…Injuries - all of them - knee, achilles, hip, foot, back, calf, hamstring…Interesting facts - speaks Indonesian poorly…Sporting ambition - to max out my potential as an athlete…Most memorable sporting achievement – course record Bogong to Hotham in 2017…Hero/idol - my father - his work ethic shaped my work ethic which has allowed me to reach heights in this sport I never would have without it…Most influential person in your career - Scott Nicholas. He helped me shape my philosophy on training…Advice to your young self Be patient and trust the process. These people are trying to help you.