Around The Grounds | Deng and Myers shatter records as Bol and Marschall put Paris in sight
Published Sun 09 Jul 2023
A pair of Olympic qualifiers and national records headlined a big weekend of athletics action, as Joseph Deng and Cameron Myers solidified themselves as Australian distance legends, while Peter Bol and Kurtis Marschall kept their eyes laser focussed on the Paris Olympic Games.
Australia has its newest national record holder in Joseph Deng (Justin Rinaldi)who charged to become the first Australian in history to shatter the 1:44 barrier over 800m at the Meeting National de l’est Lyon in France overnight. Continuing his inspiring resurgence on the track, Deng clocked 1:43.99 for the win, to eclipse training partner and Olympic fourth-place getter Peter Bol’s record by 0.01 seconds.
The Ipswich talent was in a league of his own throughout the race, keeping a solid distance between himself and the main pack while being led by pacer Jordan Terrasse (France). No momentum was lost once Terrasse dropped off the track, leaving his nearest competitor trailing behind by 20 metres as Deng crossed the finish line.
The performance sees Deng nail the standard for the Budapest World Athletics Championships for the second time, and all but punch his ticket for the Paris Olympic Games. Compatriot Jye Perrott (Ben Liddy) finished in fifth place with a season’s best of 1:45.96.
Records continued to tumble in Lyon as wonderkid Cameron Myers (Dick Telford) lowered his Under 18 and Under 20 record in the 1500m for the fifth time this year, when clocking 3:35.01 over 1500m. The 17-year-old high school student has proven time and time again that he can mix it with the world’s best and did so in Lyon with a bronze, finishing behind Peter Bol (Justin Rinaldi) who continued his scorching return to the track with a personal best of 3:34.52. Callum Davies (3L37.86, Collis Birmingham) and Rorey Hunter (3:40.21, Dick Telford) rounded out the Australian results in the race, with a seventh and 10th place respectively.
The wins continued in France as Ellie Sanford (Terri Carter) edged closer to shattering the 2-minute mark for the first time in the 800m, with her fourth fastest performance of her career - 2:00.88 – to take out the mostly French field. World Championships representative Tess Kirsopp-Cole (Craig Mottram) clocked up a personal best of 2:01.34 to make it two Australians on the podium.
Sarah Billings (Collis Birmingham) and Rose Davies (Scott Westcott) formed a green and gold quinella in the 1500m, with Billings taking out the win in a personal best time of 4:07.44. Stepping down in distance, Novocastrian Davies also registered a new lifetime best, crossing the line just moments after Billings in 4:09.72. Tokyo Olympian Georgia Winkcup (Ben Liddy) narrowly missed out on a placing in the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, with a time of 9:48.05 as she warms up for the World University Games next month.
Across the country in Sotteville, it was Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) that reigned supreme with another win and personal best of 5.95m, sailing well over the 5.82m qualifier for the Paris Olympic Games. Marschall cemented himself as the fourth best male pole vaulter in Australian history last week, with a 5.91m jump and his run this year indicates a six-metre vault may be around the corner.
Continuing Australia’s fine form in the jumps, World Under 20 Championships representative Erin Shaw (Alex Stewart) soared over 1.86m for a new season’s best, and showed there is more to come from the Cali fourth-place getter with three solid attempts at 1.89m. Julian Konle (Gary Bourne) took bronze in the Men’s Triple Jump with a 16.54m jump on his last attempt, while rising 1500m talent Maudie Skyring (Craig Mottram) was unlucky to finish 11th with a 4:14.09 performance at the French meet.
The distance frenzy rolled on in Germany, Spain and Finland over the weekend, headlined by Peter Bol’s 1:44.29 performance to take second place in Barcelona. The run was his fifth fastest performance of his career and sees the Olympian comfortably meet the qualifying standard for Budapest and the Paris Olympics. Billings also warmed up for her win in France with a third place finish in 4:08.72. Over in Pfungstadt, Germany Perrott took command of an 800m field, crossing the line in 1:46.09, while national silver medallist Lachlan Raper (Ben Liddy) rounded out the podium for third in 1:50.41.
At the Motonet GP Joensuu in Finland, Adam Spencer (Wisconsin) came away with the best result of all the Australians when taking the win in the 1500m with a personal best of 3:36.78. Two other Australians toed the line in the race, as James Hansen (3:39.75) and Sam Blake (3:40.60) finished sixth and seventh. Recent national record holder Stephanie Ratcliffe (Harvard) added to her accolades as the Australians took silver with a 67.84m throw of the hammer. The NCAA Champion locked in her place with her third throw, and completed three successful attempts over 66m. Olympic steeplechaser Ben Buckingham (Craig Mottram) battled it out with a quality field, to finish third in 8:28.00, while fellow Tokyo Olympian Matt Clarke (Adam Didyk) crossed the line seventh in 8:43.39. Olympian and 1500m specialist Georgia Griffith (Nic Bideau) placed 10th in her event in 4:24.79.
Adding to Australia’s silverware collection over the weekend, Tokyo Olympian Ed Trippas (Jason Vigilante) stole the Steeplechase show with an 8:27.12 performance to take gold in De Braga, Portugal. Harvard-product Alexander Kolesnikoff registered yet another result over 19.09m to place fourth, while Imogen Breslin ran 13.72 over the sticks to place fifth in her heat, and second in the final with a time of 13.60.
Sprint hurdlers Celeste Mucci (Darren Clark) and Abbie Taddeo (Penny Gillies) inked another race in their quest for Budapest, when taking on the Montegeron-Essonne meet field in France. Mucci clocked her fifth fastest performance of all time in the final, when running 12.94 to finish second, while Taddeo’s 13.46 saw her finish her campaign in seventh.
Across to Belgium, Australia had two winners in Brooke Buschkuel (Russell Stratton) who continues her classy ways with a 6.71m jump on her third round in the women's long jump. Sarah Carli (Melissa Smith) winning streak continued with a 56.01 performance in the 400m Hurdles for her seventh consecutive gold.
Racing over in Karlstadt, Sweden, Matthew Denny (Dale Stevenson) continued his build up to Budapest with a 66.01m throw on his fifth attempt – his eighth furthest throw of his career – to stand up on the podium with silver. Alex Beck (Mark Ladbrook) and Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne) collected a pair of bronze medals, with Beck running 46.33 over a lap of the track, while Frayne’s 7.92m on his fifth attempt saw him jump his second furthest of the year. Long jumper Lizzie Hedding (Alex Stewart) continued on her European tour with another consistent performance with saw her land sixth place with a 6.16m leap.
Australian sprinters made their mark in Marsa, Malta as Ella Connolly (Andrew Murphy) took out the hard-earned sprint double, with 11.79 (-1.9) and 23.25 (-0.1) performance across the 100m and 200m. Joshua Azzopardi (Rob Marks) took the honours in the 100m, racing to a 10.51 (-1.3) victory, while Chris Ius (Andrew Murphy) stopped the clock first in the 200m in 21.08 (0.1).
More first place finishes boosted the confidence of rising Australian triple jumpers Desleigh Owusu (Andrew Murphy) and Connor Murphy (Andrew Murphy) with Murphy bounding to 16.07m for his seventh best jump of all time, while Owusu’s best of 13.11 in Malta bodes her well for the World University Games. Zane Branco (David Reid) registered his second best performance of 7.86m (+1.3) while Samantha Dale leapt to 6.20m for gold.
World Under 20 Championships representative Darcy Miller (Steve Larsson) threw 58.75m to take out the two-person field in Falun, Sweden.
By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 9/7/2023
