Holt and Day turn up the heat in Cairns

An unofficial world record and a new personal best headlined the action at the Cairns Invitational meet today, with training partners Isis Holt and Riley Day delivering their best as they countdown to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was the last event of the meet that had Cairns crowds cheering the most, when Isis Holt (Paul Pearce) produced the run of her life in the 200m, with a new T35 world’s best of 27.33. Holt stormed around the bend, into a headwind (-0.6) yet still managed to lower five-year-old world record set by China’s Zhou Xia by 0.89 seconds.

“I woke up this morning thinking, ‘I don’t know how fast I can run today.’ Obviously the thought creeps in every now and then, but when I came off that bend, it felt really quick and it was,” Holt said.

“I think I’ve been really nailing the prep recently. I’ve been going in really strong and focusing on what I need to do. The 200m is definitely my favourite event at the moment, and it will stay that way for a while I think.”

Holt’s new world best time just weeks away from the Paralympic Games is all the more exciting, having walked away from the sport for two years away from the track to pursue her studies.

“It just feels like where I’m meant to be. Obviously the world record is what I’m going for and the act that I’m still running them is a really good sign. I’ve missed the feeling and nothing is going to beat this.

“I’m just a little bit more excited for the Paralympics than I was 10 minutes ago.”

Holt’s training partner Riley Day (Paul Pearce) showed off her strong form not once but twice today, achieving a three-year personal best in the 100m with a time of 11.31 (+1.3) after clocking 22.83 (+0.2) in the 200m just hours before.

Day ran her 200m earlier in the morning, alongside Queensland Sprinter Luke McLellan, as a way to simulate race day preparations for her heat in Tokyo.

“Everything came together really well today. There are a few things I need to fix up, including the race plan and getting used to competing on this track, but I’m really happy with my results today,” Day said.

“I was expecting those results but I was also surprised that they came today. I knew I could run a PB in the 100m as it just hasn’t been ideal conditions for me in the past, but today has given me a confidence booster. I can rest a little easier tonight knowing that I can potentially run faster in Tokyo with improvements.

Long jumper Nic Hum (T20, John Boas) locked away a new season’s best, with a jump of 7.21m – just 0.1m shy of the A qualifier. Although no doubt boosted, by a strong wind (5.9), the jump significantly toppled his previous best within the qualifier, by nearly 30cm.

Kurtis Marschall (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) led the charge for the pole vaulters when capitalising on the favourable conditions in Cairns to clear 5.75m.  Marschall was bold was in raising the bar to 5.85m but the 24-year-old was left frustrated after registering multiple solid attempts at the height. Despite going agonisingly close at 5.85m, the competition will come as a relief for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist who has endured mixed results in his recent encounters.

The performance suggests Marschall is more than capable of bettering his career-best outdoor clearance of 5.81m, with his next chance to do so in Cairns once again next week.

Elizaveta Parnova (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) put in one of her strongest showings of the season when clearing 4.51m to near her season’s best of 4.55m. Whilst her personal best stands at 4.60m, the Western Australian will receive a significant confident boost from her performance in Cairns – returning to the heights that she knows she is capable of clearing consistently.

Parnova was joined over the bar at 4.51m by Australian record holder Nina Kennedy (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) who jumped off a shortened run-up in her return to competition, before the pair were unsuccessful in clearing 4.61m.

Linden Hall punched in another strong performance in the lead up to her second Olympic Games, running 2:00.83 over 800m to sharpen up her 1500m preparations. The race was Hall’s first since winning the 1500m national title in April, indicating that the Australian record holder is tracking well in her Tokyo preparations.

By Sascha Ryner and Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 11/7/2021