The Final Straight | Buschkuehl and Moloney headline hopes on Day 10
Published Sun 24 Jul 2022
World leader Brooke Buschkuehl took just one look at the Hayward Field runway in the qualifying round of the Women’s Long Jump on day nine, leaping 6.76m (+0.5) to secure the automatic standard and progress to yet another major championship final.
Defying a troublesome period of injury and illness over several years, Buschkuehl just last fortnight emerged to produce her absolute best when recording a dazzle performance of 7.13m (+1.8), launching herself to into a commanding position as her Australian record tumbled.
“Honestly, it was an amazing feeling to break my own Australian record, past my 7.05m and jump a 7.13. It wasn’t something I thought I was capable of doing, especially at this point in my career,” Buschkuel said.
“It was six years and four months since I jumped my previous Australian record. It was far too long between feeling that excitement and feeling that satisfaction that comes with jumping a personal best. I guess I just had to stay focussed and grind through the real challenging times and I’m so glad I stuck to it. It’s really paid off.”
Mailika Mhambo (Germany) is the only other woman in the world to have leapt over seven metres in 2022 and boasts an illustrious resume on paper, including gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games and Doha World Athletics Championships.
A two-time Olympic finalist who is headed for her second World Athletics Championships final, the 29-year-old finds herself on the eve of cementing her status in Australian sporting history – adding another chapter to a series of women’s success lead by Kelsey-Lee Barber, Eleanor Patterson, and Nina Kennedy.
“Last fortnight I was doubting myself, I had lost so much confidence in my ability and I was at the point where I didn’t know if I was going to continue on with the sport. I knew giving up wasn’t an option but I tried my best to stay as positive as I could, through some pretty challenging times and I knew something good was coming,” she said.
“To now be in a position where we can talk about medals is crazy and I feel like after many years of hard times and challenging moments, it would make it all so worthwhile,” she said.
Four-time World Athletics Championships representative Rhydian Cowley and Carl Gibbons will take to the roads of Oregon for the Men’s 35km Race Walk on the final day of the program, competing for the inaugural world title over the distance.
Cowley enters off the form of a 19th placed finish over 20km in a time of 1:23:37 on day one of the program, taking on his second of three distances in a short period of time as the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games beckons.
The two-time Olympian became the first ever Australian champion over the distance when winning the Oceania title in May in 2:37:57, with Gibbons securing silver in 2:43:04. With the event still to gain prominence at international meets, the race features an abundance of talent from shorter distances, including trio of Japanese men – the fastest of which is Masatora Kawano with 2:26:40.
The Decathlon continues tomorrow with three Australians, including Olympic bronze medallist Ash Moloney, Tokyo teammate Cedric Dubler and dual US citizen Daniel Golubovic taking on the final five events.
Moloney appears as the strongest medal hope as he sits in fifth position after a slow start to competition. The 21-year-old is determined to push himself to a third global medal after winning bronze at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, and with his most dominant competitor in Damian Warner (CAN) now out of the field due to injury, a pathway to the podium is still in sight.
Moloney has so far banked up 4378 points across the five events contested so far and sits 100 points away from medal position. Countrymen Dubler sits comfortably within the top 10 in the field on 4286 points, while his former housemate Golubovic is in 18th place with 4065 points after day one of competition.
With the 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin and 1500m to go, each of the Australians will lean on their versatility in the sport to put themselves in the best position possible to medal tomorrow night.
Australian hurdling duo Michelle Jenneke and Celeste Mucci both secured lanes in the Women’s 100m Hurdles semi-finals, with sharp times of 12.84 (-0.4) and 13.01 (+1.5) respectively to advance to the second round.
Jenneke’s time falls just outside her 12.82 second personal best from 2015 but comes as little surprise as the Australian continues her quick climb back to the top, while Mucci has proved to be a model of consistency as she places her 12.96 lifetime best under threat.
As to be expected at the World Athletics Championships, the pair have drawn significant talent in their second-round matchups, with Jenneke lining up alongside the likes of Kendra Harrison (USA, 12.20) and Danielle Williams (Jamaica, 12.32) in semi-final one, before Mucci goes toe-to-toe with Alia Armstrong (USA, 12.47) and Megan Tapper (Jamaica, 12.53). Should the Australians progress, they will compete in the final which will take place later that evening.
Catch the final day of World Athletics Championships action on BeInSport and SBS On Demand.
By Lachlan Moorhouse and Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 24/7/2022
