Australian Track & Field Championships | Burgeoning talent shine through on Day 2

Not even the rain could dampen the spirits of the young guns of Australian athletics as they stepped on to the track at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre for Day 2 of the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships. 

Queensland’s Jai Gordon has been named as Australia’s fastest Under 20 athlete, claiming the 100m title in a speedy 10.28 (0.7).  The 18-year-old narrowly missed the meet record set by Trae Williams in 2016 (10.27), but obliterated his previous personal best of 10.34 set just last week at the 2022 Chemist Warehouse Melbourne Track Classic.

“To execute my race was so important. It was my first win in four years, and it was an amazing race to be a part of,” Gordon said.

“I’ve been working for this for four years with lots of silver and bronze, so to finally win means everything to me.”

Gordon defeated his fellow relay team member Calab Law who placed second in 10.36; his fourth World Under 20 Championships qualifier and a personal best time by more than 0.1 of a second. Also notching qualifiers for Cali were Connor Bond (10.50) and Ryan Tarrant (10.57) who placed third and fourth respectively.

“The hype was insane before that race, with the whole field running so far under the world junior qualifier. The moment they say on your marks, we’re not friends but only for 10 seconds. After we cross that line we’re back to being friends,” Gordon said.

16-year-old Claudia Hollingsworth has been dominant over the 1500m and 800m throughout the summer season, and stamped her authority on the longer distance, taking the Under 20 title in 4:13.41 – her second fastest time this season, and the fastest time ever produced in the event at the national championships.  

“I’m just relieved. The whole morning I was pretty nervous because I didn’t know how the race was going to play out – whether it was going to go fast or slow. To come down the straight and hear that it was going to be a meet record was pretty cool,” Hollingsworth said.

While Hollingsworth went into the race as the fastest by six seconds, she was pushed into a fast race by fellow Victorian Amy Bunnage, who was hanging onto her coattails for the first lap around the track. Hollingsworth then used the opportunity to stretch her legs, but not one of her competitors could keep up, as she crossed the line nearly two seconds in front of her rivals.

A quality race with fierce competitors, the first eight across the line all secured World Under 20 qualifiers, but it was Nicola Hogg, who impressed with a 3 second personal best, (4:15.13) and Hayley Kitching (4:17.17) who joined Hollingsworth on the podium.

Hollingsworth will make one final appearance at Sydney Olympic Park, when she takes on some of the country’s finest athletes in the women’s Open 800m. Hollingsworth will go into the race as the second fastest athlete, behind Australian record holder Catriona Bisset.

“The plan is definitely to try and win it. There’s some great girls in the race so I’m just going to try stick on and get pulled through,” she said.

“I definitely get more nervous. People say there’s less pressure but I definitely feel it. I just think about my goals in the future and put a lot of pressure and expectation on myself to keep getting better.”

The Men’s Under 1500m was won by Queensland’s 16-year-old triathlete Peyton Craig who took out the race in 3:49.53 to cement his place on the Australian team travelling to Cali. Although the race wasn’t his fastest, he has previously secured to qualifying times. Patrick Cantlon of New South Wales (3:49.94) and Canberran Cameron Myers (3:50.50) won the silver and bronze in the event.

“Going into it, I was confident that I could win it regardless of how fast or slow it was, if I positioned myself well. It was just about staying calm. I knew once I got to the 200m I had the speed to get around. I put myself out wide to give myself a clean run and that’s what I did,” Craig said.

Craig, who turns 17 tomorrow, will hit the track again for the Under 20 3000m event on Tuesday.

Reigning Under 20 women’s discus champion Marley Raikiwasa successfully defended her title as the leading Australian in the field, but missed on taking out the whole event, defeated by trans-Tasman rival Natalia Rankin-Chitar. Rankin-Chitar took the lead with her first throw of 49.15m, but it took Raikiwasa six attempts to come close, with her furthest throw at 47.59m.

“I’m really happy with the medal placing, it wasn’t my best series of throws but I can’t argue with a gold medal,” said the Australian champion.

“My good form this season is surprising because I switched coaches and my technique was under major demo, so to be able to throw the way I have this year, I’m really happy. I was just aiming to get my technique down pat this year, so this gold medal is a bonus.”

In other events today, NSW’s Erin Shaw triumphantly won gold in the women’s high jump, after returning from injury. Though the 17-year-old has jumped a personal best of 1.84m this season, 1.78m was enough to take the title away from Sophie Lillicrap of Queensland. While neither of them achieved the 1.81m qualifying standard height today, Shaw’s personal best coupled with crown should be enough to take her to Colombia.

NSW's Delta Amidzovski was crowned the Under 20 champion in the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 13.78. At just 15, she is too young to receive an automatic spot on the Cali team, but the swift times suggest there is much to come from the young hurdler from New South Wales. Victoria’s Alessia Wynne placed second in 14.13, a time that puts her into contention for Cali.

Day 3 of the 2022 Australian Track and Field Championships will begin tomorrow at 9am.

Full results can be found here. 

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 27/3/2022