Lauren Wells breaks Australian 200m hurdles Record

In her first venture over the sticks since the Rio Olympics, Lauren Wells (ACT) has started her 2017 off with a bang, setting a new Australian Record for the 200m hurdles at an Athletics ACT meet over the weekend.

Stopping the clock in 25.79 seconds, the mark betters the previous record held by two-time Olympic medallist Pam Kilborn-Ryan in 1971 pending the ratification of Wells' effort.

Because Kilborn-Ryan's time of 25.7 seconds was hand-timed, officials are required to add 0.24 seconds to the recorded time.

"I honestly didn't think I would run under 26 seconds so to have done that and hopefully set an Australian record is pretty exciting," Wells told The Canberra Times.

"It's not an event I usually do so there was that novelty factor to it a bit, but it's still relevant and it's nice to be able to come out and run a [personal-best time]."

"It's a bit unexpected ... I haven't even been going over any hurdles, we've been concentrating on my flat speed," Wells said.

The Matt Beckenham coached athlete will be gearing up for another big domestic season, after a strong 2016 in which she captured her 10th Australian title in the 400m hurdles.

Following her semi-final performance in Rio, Wells has focussed mostly on flat sprinting before now beginning to ramp up the hurdles work.

"I wanted to have a break and come back when I was feeling refreshed and mentally," Wells said.

"So I thought running the 200m hurdles was a good way to ease back into it. I'll run another 200m [flat race] on Sunday and right up until the nationals, I want to run as many PBs as I can this season.

Wells' stablemate Melissa Breen (ACT) also made her racing comeback over the weekend with a blistering run in the 100-yard dash.

It was the first race for the Australian 100m record holder since the Olympics, with her time of 10.59 being the third fastest recorded by an Australian all-time.