Lightning Strikes Twice as McSweyn Makes History
Published Sat 10 Jul 2021
Stewart McSweyn has delivered his second national record in the space of a week with a blistering 1500m at the Monaco Diamond League, whilst Catriona Bisset and Genevieve Gregson consolidated their form ahead of Tokyo with strong outings at the prestigious meet.
Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) has shaved exactly one second off his own 1500m national record at the Monaco Diamond League, running 3:29.51 to surpass Nick Willis’ 3:29.66 Oceania record in the process.
The performance comes as McSweyn’s sixth national record, with the 26-year-old Australian launching an assault on the record books during his rise to stardom which now has him sitting comfortably in the upper echelon of middle-distance men worldwide.
“It’s a huge honour to be the first Australian to run under 3:30 for the 1500m. It shows that my momentum is building and if I can keep improving ahead of Tokyo, I feel like I can be competitive with the best guys in the world,” he said.
The run placed the King Island product fourth in a field boasting both top-end talent and depth, including reigning world champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen – a challenge that McSweyn is embracing just weeks out from the Olympics.
“Racing the best guys on the circuit gives you a lot of confidence, you get a good indication of how you stack up against the top guys and it also indicates where you need to work on to improve as well,” he said.
“I’m happy with the personal best but finishing fourth also shows that there is definitely room for improvement for me as well.”
The race was only the fourth time in history that four men have run under 3:30, with both other occasions also occurring in Monaco.
Jye Edwards (Dick Telford) clocked a new personal best of 3:33.23 to finish in 12th place of the Olympic-caliber field, shuffling himself the sixth on the Australian all-time list in the process.
Edwards has shown strong form over the last week with a 3:49.27 mile also to his name, joining McSweyn and Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) to form a formidable Australian trio of metric milers in Tokyo.
Catriona Bisset (Peter Fortune) continued her incredible consistency at the highest level over 800m, running 1:58.42 to finish in in eighth place in Monaco.
The time is the second fastest ever recorded by an Australian over the distance, falling outside Bisset’s own national record of 1:58.09.
Bisset’s last four performances now include her scorching 1:58.09 national record in Poland, before runs of 1:59.30, 1:59.13 and 1:58.42 at the last three legs of the Wanda Diamond League.
Genevieve Gregson’s (Nic Bideau) patient build up to the Tokyo Olympics is starting to pay dividends, with the accomplished Australian edging closer to her 9:14.28 national record when running 9:17.81 in Monaco.
The performance was the second fastest time ever registered by an Australian woman and a significant improvement on last week’s 9:23.24 in Stockholm.
Gregson was the sixth woman across the line in the world-class field, with the confidence boosting run leaving her primed for her third Olympic Games.
Brandon Starc (Alex Stewart) managed to clear 2.21m to finish in sixth place of the high jump in Monaco, failing to advance once the bar was raised to 2.25m.
The performance is not a true indicator of where the Australian record holder is at, having jumped 2.27m and 2.33m in his previous two competitions.
Several Australians are entered to compete at the London/Gateshead leg of the Diamond League next week which will once again provide an opportunity for fast times and competitive showings.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 10/7/2021
