Wins for Linden Hall and Henry Frayne in Zagreb as Brett Robinson impresses on the roads, while Australia’s race walkers re-emerge for the Australian Winter Walks Championships – it’s the 2022 season that refuses to rest.
The last stop of Linden Hall’s (Ned Brophy-Williams) 2022 campaign witnessed the Australian deliver a dominant win at the Borisa Hanzekovica Memorial in Zagreb, setting new personal best of 4:21.10 to win the mile with the second fastest time in Australian history.
Charging down the straight with an unassailable lead, Hall was rewarded with a new meeting record in the first ever mile at the historic meet which was first held in 1951, etching her name into the history books while dismantling a respected field at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Meeting.
Earlier in the program of the three-day meet, Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne) saved his best for last when leaping to gold with a seasons best of 8.11m (+0.8) – relishing the opportunity to jump in the heart of Zagreb for the street-based field events.
Frayne added one-centimetre to his previous best mark of the year to close his season in style, with the 32-year-old returning back over the eight-metre barrier to
Morgan McDonald (Dathan Ritzenhein) was the third Australian to force his way onto the podium in Zagreb, salvaging further success from a season riddled with injury when clocking 7:39.05 over 3000m to finish in third place. Unable to open his season until July, the 26-year-old has returned in strong shape to form the foundation of his momentum leading into 2023.
On the roads of North East England, Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau) continued his build towards the London Marathon with a fifth-place finish at the esteemed Great North Run – clocking 1:02:06 over the 21.1km journey on heavy legs to defeat noteworthy names among the field of 60,000.
The Australian record holder in the half marathon looks set to close the gap on Rob De Castella’s 2:07:51 national record over the full 42.2km distance, with Robinson regaining confidence in his preparation after his recent withdrawal from the one-hour race at the Brussels Diamond League.
Jye Edwards (Dick Telford) joined in on the road racing action at the renowned 5th Avenue Mile in New York, charging down the street to finish in 13th place as the clock read 3:54.
On home soil, the 2022 Australian Winter Walks Championships were held at Melbourne’s Fawkner Park, with Olympic duo Declan Tingay and Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker) walking their way to national titles.
Largely a formality for two of Australia’s best young walkers, the pair added polish to their winter volume when winning in times of 1:31:37 and 1:39:28 respectively, as they begin to ramp up preparations for a busy domestic season on the walking front.
Encouraging junior results came from Australian junior representative Marcus Wakim (Adam Garganis) who took home the 10km Under 18 title in a new personal best time of 44:22, while Elizabeth McMillen (Bill Nappin) proved too strong in the Under 20 ranks when coasting to victory in a time of 48:13.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 12/9/2022
