Hollingsworth wins hottest race of the year, Mitrevski leaps to Paris

The Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships came to an impressive climax in Adelaide, with teenage sensation Claudia Hollingsworth toppling a credentialed 800m field to win her first Australian Open title, while Chris Mitrevski leapt to an Olympic berth for Paris.

Just two days after her 19th birthday, teenage sensation Hollingsworth (VIC, Craig Mottram) delivered the most significant win of her budding career when dismantling the country’s best 800m women, rising to the occasion to set a new Australian Under 20 record of 1:58.40.

Stretching away from the star-studded field which saw four women shatter the elusive two-minute barrier, Hollingsworth beat home World Championships semi-finalist Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren, 1:59.01), Olympian Bendere Oboya (VIC, Craig Mottram, 1:59.33) and Australian record holder Catriona Bisset (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams, 1:59.87).

“Before I was super nervous and throughout the race there wasn’t really one point where I felt relaxed. I was quite a way back but I just trusted my back end speed and ability,” Hollingsworth said.

“My birthday was actually on Friday so that was a bit of a nothing day, I was just sitting at home all day getting nervous! Today is definitely a big birthday present.”

Long jumper Mitrevski (VIC, Alex Stewart) brought his best to the national stage when nailing an Olympic-qualifying jump of 8.32m (-0.2) in the sixth and final round, piling 11cm onto his career-best to bring his Paris 2024 Olympic dream to life. The result would have also won him bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I didn’t know what an 8.30m jump felt like because I’ve never done it before, but it felt better than anything I’ve ever done. I just had so much time in the air,” Mitrevski said.

“I had a pretty good Nationals a few years ago where I scratched the surface and started to believe that I could push for a medal and not just be a number. I hope this is a step toward consistency and jumping even further.”

20-year-old Luke Boyes (NSW, Ben St Lawrence) was rewarded for an aggressive run to secure a breakthrough Australian title in 1:44.73 in the Men’s 800m, just 0.03-seconds outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 1:44.70 in a whirlwind race that saw him fend off Olympic finalist Peter Bol (WA, Justin Rinaldi, 1:45.06) and rising star Peyton Craig (QLD, Brendan Mallyon, 1:45.76).

In a battle between two global giants of high jump, world champions Nicola Olyslagers (NSW, Matthew Horsnell) and Eleanor Patterson (NSW, Alex Stewart) raised the bar up over two-metres, with the Australian record holder Olyslagers prevailing with a 2.01m clearance and new championship record, before attempting 2.06m.

“At World Indoors I went from 1.99m to 2.02m and I felt like the intensity in me wasn’t there, and I had a chat to a few other athletes, and they said that when they feel that in competition, they put the bar up to another height that they desire to jump. Ultimately you can’t jump higher unless you try to jump higher,” Olyslagers said.

The middle-distance action rolled on as Rose Davies (NSW, Scott Westcott) and Matthew Ramsden (WA, Nic Bideau) were crowned Australian 5000m champions in times of 15:21.62 and 13:39.61 respectively, while Sarah Carli (NSW, Melissa Smith) took out the Women’s 400m Hurdles in 54.96 and Michelle Jenneke (NSW, Bronwyn Thompson) clocked 12.88 (0.0) to win the Women’s 100m Hurdles.

Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis (QLD, Andrew Iselin) and training partner Calab Law (QLD, Andrew Iselin) were crowned the nation’s fastest 200m athletes, with Lewis recording the first wind-legal sub-23 second run of her career in the heats in 22.94 (+1.7) before clocking 23.05 (-0.3) in the final, while Law found time to celebrate en route to 20.54 (-1.0).

World Championships bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall (WA, Paul Burgess & James Fitzpatrick) soared over 5.62m to take out the Men’s Pole Vault before sustaining an unfortunate injury on his second attempt at 5.72m.

Bettering her own Australian T36 record and securing her fifth Paralmypic ‘A’ qualifier, Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards & Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, T36) capped off her domestic campaign in style with a 29.67 (+0.5) performance in the heats of the Women’s 200m Ambulant.

The Men’s 200m Ambulant saw Jackson Love (NSW, Rob Marks, T35) and Jack Netting (SA, Lynn Larsen, T35) secure Paralympic ‘B’ qualifiers in times of 26.20 (+1.0) and 26.93 (+1.0) respectively in the heats.

Full results from Day Four can be found HERE.

The Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships continues tomorrow, with the Junior events and will be broadcast live and free on 7pm from 11.55am ACST.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 14/4/2024