Fit and Firing | Australians Deliver Blazing Start to 2024

Australia’s top athletes have started the year fit and firing, with an action-packed weekend seeing Ella Connolly shatter the Australian record over 60m, as Patrick Tiernan blasted the Olympic marathon standard and Vanessa Low returned to the peak of her powers.

The Illawarra Track Challenge served up its trademark fast times with warm weather and strong tailwinds, as Ella Connolly (Andrew Murphy) scorched her way to a run of 11.26 (+1.7) to take out the 100m, before doubling down with a 7.26 (+1.5) performance over 60m to shatter Sally Pearson’s 7.30-second Australian record (pending ratification).

Joshua Azzopardi (Rob Marks) caused up an early-season boil over when dismantling sprint king Rohan Browning (Andrew Murphy) over 100m, capitalising on the conditions to stop the clock in 10.06 (+4.1) – two thousandths of a second ahead than Browning.

Browning returned serve over 60m with a quick start proving the difference, bolting to victory in 6.52 (+2.5) ahead of Azzopardi’s 6.54.

Two-time Olympian Patrick Tiernan (Alistair & Amy Cragg) put his best foot forward to finish in fourth place of the Houston Marathon, nailing the Olympic standard (2:08:10) with a stunning performance of 2:07:45 – the second fastest time in Australian history behind only Brett Robinson’s 2:07:31 national record.

“The last couple of years have definitely been tough. I’ve had injuries and understanding the marathon as an event, so it’s been hard. Pulling out of the World Championships was a big wake up call for me that we had to take a hard look at some things and figure out what was going on,” Tiernan said.

“I felt I was capable of sub 2:08 from a fitness standpoint, but it was just a matter of how my legs would hold up over the last 10km. It was a very pleasant surprise to see I was under 2:08 coming down the last straight, and just to finally see the work we’ve put in over the last couple of years come out in a result.”

Reigning Paralympic champion Vanessa Low (Scott Reardon) made a statement to open the Paralympic year when leaping to 5.23m (+0.0) in the long jump at the Australian Institute of Sport - a mark narrowly outside her own T61 world record of 5.28m.

Claiming Long Jump T63 bronze at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris last year just one year after the birth of her first son Matteo, the performance sets up Low for a golden return to the Paralympic Games in 2024.

Adding to the Para Athletics action in Canberra, Michael Roeger (Philo Saunders) flexed his early season form with a run of 4:12.16 in the mile, while Annabelle Colman (Liz Gosper & Anthony De Castella) nailed another strong 1500m performance in Victoria when clocking 4:42.4.

A junior sprinting duo were prominent at Queensland’s Garry Brown Shield, as freshly announce Athletics Australia Junior Female Athlete of the Year Torrie Lewis (Andrew Iselin) made her return to racing with a dominant win in 11.44 (-1.0). 16-year-old Gout Gout (Dianne Sheppard) warmed into his 2024 openers with runs of 21.10 (+0.4) over 200m and 10.74 (-2.2) in the 100m.

Rising star Ethan Ayodele (Les Bottles) launched the discus (1.75kg) to a new personal best of 58.79m to post his second qualifier for the 2024 World Under 20 Championships to be held in Lima, Peru while World Championships representative Taryn Gollshewsky (Les Kuorikoski) opened her year with a throw of 58.68m in the women’s competition.

15-year-old athletes Sienna Bush (Melanie Black) and Tess Hannigan (Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell) rounded out the action with a pair of World Under 20 qualifiers in the 3000m steeplechase, registering times of 10:26.38 and 10:33.74 respectively – inside the 10:38.00 qualifying standard.

Also pushing her case for the World Under 20 Championships, Tryphena Hewett (Pat Todd & Kym Simons) soared over a bar of 1.80m in Adelaide, qualifying for her second event of the high jump having already secured two qualifying performances in the pole vault. Meanwhile in Perth, Ky Hehir (Matthew Ramsden) nailed his first 1500m qualifying time of 3:47.85 - holding on valiantly after pacing his teammates through 1000m. 

Carley Thomas (Washington) led the way for Australians racing in the NCAA with a slick pair of personal bests, carving her way to wins in the mile (4:30.38) and 600m (1:29.80). Hayley Kitching (Penn State) raced her way to a swift 2:42.94 over 1000m, while Amy Bunnage (Stanford) impressed over 3000m in a World Under 20 qualifying time of 9:03.21 and Ky Robinson (Stanford) proved the best of the Australian milers with a run of 4:00.50.

The action was not limited to the middle-distance ranks, as Aleksandra Stoilova (Pittsburgh) bolted to a 7.39 performance over 60m, while Alexander Kolesnikoff (Georgia) opened his year with a 19.41m effort in the shot put.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 15/1/2024