Crunch Time Approaches for Olympic Hopefuls

Australia’s athletes were spread far and wide across the globe over the weekend as the chase for 2024 Olympic qualification enters its final weeks, with big names and rising stars stepping up to the plate for one last push for Paris.

Emerging talent Tayleb Willis (Kyle Vander-Kuyp & Sam Leslie) kick-started the weekend in style at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational, hurdling his way to number three on the Australian all-time list in the Men’s 110m Hurdles, behind only his coach Kyle Vander-Kuyp and Nicholas Hough, with a blazing run of 13.44 (+0.5) for third place.

The career-best performance was produced off the back of Willis’ Oceania Athletic Championship glory, before the 21-year-old made it a Canadian double with a 13.90 (-1.4) reading for third place at the Harry Jerome Track Classic two days later – assisting his Olympic qualifying surge.

Adding to the action in Canada, hammer thrower Stephanie Ratcliffe (Matthew Horneman & Don Babbitt) launched to a seasons best of 70.52m to clinch gold and invaluable bonus points at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver Meet, while Hayley Kitching (Ryan Foster) served up a pair of 800m performances across the two meets with 2:01.72 for second place before going one better with 2:01.95 for first.

Continuing her comeback from hamstring surgery, Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) delivered two slick runs on Canada’s athletics circuit, first charging to 12.97 (+0.4) in the Women’s 100m Hurdles for third place at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational, before improving to 12.90 (+0.7) for silver at the Harry Jerome Track Classic.

Claiming gold at the Harry Jerome Track Classic was rising high jumper Roman Anastasios (Sandro Bisetto) with a 2.21m clearance, while Alexander Kolesnikoff (Don Babbitt) impressed with 19.59m in the shot put and Lianna Davidson (Angus McEntyre) continued her consistent season with 58.42m in the javelin – both earning third-place finishes.

Bringing his best to the Night of Athletics in Heusden, 2018 World Under 20 champion Nash Lowis (Lukas Cannon) delivered a breakthrough personal best to end a four-year drought, sending the javelin 80.50m to claim silver and edge closer to the world rankings quota for Paris.

Returning to the winners list was Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) who battled the challenging conditions to break the tape in the 3:35.44 in the Men’s 1500m, while Sarah Billings (Nic Bideau) made it an Australian middle-distance double to win the Women’s 1500m in 4:06.26.

Reigning Australian champion Michelle Jenneke (Bronwyn Thompson) opened her international campaign in style when claiming bronze in the Women’s 100m Hurdles, racing to a time 12.82 (+2.8) as her Paris preparations ramp up, having already been selected in April.

Rounding out the action in the Belgian city, Jacob Despard (Rolf Ohman) bolted to a swift 10.22 (+2.2) in the Men’s 100m.

Leading the action in Nice was teenage sensation Cameron Myers (Dick Telford) who nailed second place in the Men’s 1500m with a run of 3:33.93 less than a week after his 18^th birthday, narrowly outside his 3:33.26 personal best and securing the third fastest time of his budding career.  Jack Anstey (Stephen Haas) trailed the rising star in eighth place with a time of 3:35.37.

Paris-bound middle-distance runner Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) made her return to racing on international soil in strong fashion, hitting the lead in the Women’s 800m to pick apart a strong field in a casual sub-two minute reading of 1:59.79. Bendere Oboya (Craig Mottram) was hot in pursuit when finishing third in 2:00.64, followed by Carley Thomas (Craig Mottram) in seventh as she crossed the line in 2:01.93.

Also landing on the podium in Nice was Sarah Carli (Melissa Smith) in the Women’s 400m Hurdles (56.66) and Tomas Palfrey (Jerry Schumacher) in the Men’s 1000m (2:19.15).

Competing in Troyes, France a host of Australians were led by 400m man Reece Holder (Sharon Dale & Chris Dale), with the 2023 World University Games silver medallist returning to form with the second fastest time of his career – a 45.19-second showing for first place. Luke van Ratingen (Ben Liddy) followed in sixth place in 46.06.

Liz Clay (David Reid & Sharon Hannan) posted a tidy sequence of 13.09 (+1.0) and 13.08 (-0.3) to claim second place in the final of the Women’s 100m Hurdles, as Peyton Craig (Brendan Mallyon) matched the feat over 800m with a time of 1:45.86 for second.

The weekend wound up at the Folksam GP in Sweden where Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) continued his strong form with a run of 20.86 (0.0) for the win, while teammates Callum Davies (Collis Birmingham) and Jude Thomas (Collis Birmingham) took the top two spots over 1500m in 3:37.03 and 3:37.49.

Reigning Australian 800m Luke Boyes (Ben St Lawrence) marked his European debut with a run of 1:46.09 for third place, while in The Bahamas it was Alanah Yukich (Rose Monday) who bolted to a career-best 55.33 to win the 400m hurdles and continue her late run for Paris qualification.

Meanwhile on home soil, Lachlan Kennedy (Andrew Iselin) took full advantage of supreme conditions in Townsville to clock a 10.15 (+2.2) reading over 100m.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted 17/06/2024