Douglas breaks hurdles record upon debut in Belgrade
Published Mon 21 Mar 2022
Medals eluded the Australian team on the final day of the 2022 World Athletics Championships, but near misses on the track and a new Australian record show much promise as athletes look ahead to a year filled with major championships.
A standout Australian team debut has seen US based hurdler Chris Douglas (Joey Woods) obliterate his national indoor record in the 60m hurdles. Douglas achieved his best in the second of his three quickfire runs on his way to the final, running 7.56 – 0.05 lower than his previous record set in February this year.
Douglas placed fifth in the final, recording 7.61, surpassing all of his expectations for his first major championships.
“To be honest, I hadn’t run high hurdles since 2019 as I have been so focussed on the 400m (hurdles). My previous personal best was 7.75 and the qualifier was 72, so I thought, why not give it a shot and in my opening race, I ran a big best. I didn’t have any expectations coming in today and I ended up here, so I can’t complain about my final result,” Douglas said.
“It hasn’t settled in yet that I’m here. All the big names that I watch on TV and never expected to race against are here. I’ve proved to myself what I can do and it’s given me a lot of confidence to try for the same in the outdoor season. I know there are now a lot more opportunities for bigger races for me and the sky is the limit.”
Also competing in the 60m hurdles was Nick Andrews (Tim O'Neill). Despite being the fastest start out of the blocks in his heat, he was unable to maintain pace after knocking down the first hurdle. Andrews finished in fifth place in his heat, clocking 7.75m to finish his first major Championships campaign.
Australian record holder of both the indoor and outdoor 800m Catriona Bisset (Ned Brophy-Williams) had a phenomenal debut indoor season, with three podium finishes on the World Indoor Tour, but narrowly missed out on her first Championships medal, placing fifth in 2:01.24.
Up against tightly packed field, Bisset knew she would have to think tactically but a slow start to her race and a decision to stay out wide over the four laps of the indoor track meant she was unable to catch the race leaders, despite coming close on the final bend.
"I felt really excited going into this race. A lot of the time I get nervous and think to myself that I can't wait for it to be over, but whenever I thought about this race, I got really excited. That's a big step forward, feeling like I belong. Obviously I'm disappointed with the result but that also means I really wanted it," Bisset said.
“Looking back on the race, I was a bit too impatient. That was the plan in the first place, but I got a bit antsy and wasted a lot of energy trying to get into the rail. I should have trusted that I was strong. I still don’t trust my own talent but I’m getting there.”
1500m specialist Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) has run faster indoors than outdoors in his pet event, and went into tonight’s final as an outside chance for a medal. While a battle ensued for world record holder Jakob Ingebrigsten and Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera, with the underdog prevailing, the Australian was unable to keep up, blaming his split decision making for placing sixth in 3:34.36.
“For me personally, I would have loved to get out there and medal and be the best I could be out the front, and that was my expectation throughout the race, but I just wasn’t able to get into that top 3 position. It was tough but I was able to give it a shot,” Hoare said.
“I did a pretty good job of executing my race plan, but it was the little things that would have decided if I won a medal, and I didn’t execute all of them. This race gives me a lot of confidence that I can run with these guys, and to learn from that and to race against those guys so closely was great and hopefully I can grow on that and get better.”
After a run of bad luck last year at the Tokyo Olympics, pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess) came up against the world’s best once more and finished in seventh place clearing 5.75m on his first attempt.
Though not quite a season’s best, having jumped 5.76 in Paris last month, Marschall said that the competition was his best this year yet.
“It was great to get another chance to compete against the best vaulters in the world. I really felt like I could get 5.85m but I’ll have more opportunities throughout the rest of the year. I feel like I’m getting better each comp,” Marschall said.
Marschall, who was only able to travel to Belgrade on the 11th hour following a bout of Covid-19 while stationed in Germany, said he knows there is much to come as he builds towards the World Athletics Championships in Oregon and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games just weeks later.
“I was really unlucky to catch Covid on my way to Belgrade, but although I wasn’t too physically affected by it, I found it tough not being able to train for two weeks, and it was also quite emotionally draining to only find out yesterday that I was able to compete.”
After finishing third in his heat, Matthew Ramsden (Nic Bideau) stepped up to take on his first major championships final in the 3000m. Finishing in 12th place in a time of 7:49.82, Ramsden was hoping to be more competitive, but the tactics executed by race leaders Ethiopians Selemon Barega, Lamecha Girma and Great Britain’s Marc Scott made it hard to stay amongst the main pack of the race.
“I just didn’t recover from the heat as well as I had hoped, but I’ve had a very good three month training block and I feel like I’m in a good place for the rest of the year,” Ramsden said.
“From here, I’ll travel back home and prep for the national 1500m, which will be the event I’m hoping to represent Australia in at the World Championships later in the year.”
Australia finished 7th on the Championships placing table, with one silver (Eleanor Patterson) and one bronze (Ash Moloney) medals won, as well as three 5th place, two 6th place and one 7th place finishes.
By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 21/3/2022
