Raikiwasa Rewrites Record as Mitrevski Rolls On | Weekend Recap

A weekend of international athletics action saw the Olympic-bound Chris Mitrevski back up his Australian Championships breakthrough with an 8.24m leap, while rising thrower Marley Raikiwasa celebrated her World Under 20 Championships berth with a national Under 20 record in the shot put.

Touching down in Osaka for his first competition since clinching the Australian title and Olympic qualification with his sixth and final jump of 8.32m at the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships, Mitrevski (Alex Stewart) doubled down with a win of 8.24m (-0.1) in Japan.

Producing the effort in the fifth round as his only jump over eight metres from his six attempts, Mitrevski led the way with a win at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet, as hurdler Danielle Shaw (Peter Benifer) joined in on the action to shatter 13-seconds for the first time in her career with a run of 12.98 (+0.2) for third place in the Women’s 100m Hurdles.

Shaw’s breakthrough was complemented by Jacob McCorry (Alex Stewart) who is trending upwards with a run of 13.87 (+0.3) in the Men’s 110m Hurdles as he warms into his international campaign, while Conor Fry (Steve Fabris) raced to a time of 50.58 in the Men’s 400m Hurdles.

19-year-old sprinter Georgia Harris (Paul Pearce) produced her best run of the season to date with a time 11.53 (-0.2) to take gold, as Laura McShane (Wayne Mason) made her way around 400m in 53.56 – narrowly outside her career-best.

Fresh off punching her ticket to the 2024 World Under 20 Championships to be held in Lima, Peru this August, 18-year-old Marley Raikiwasa (Auburn) only ramped up her preparations with a new Australian Under 20 record in the shot put of 16.84m – bettering her previous mark by five centimetres.

Raikiwasa backed up the performance with a throw of 55.54m in the discus as she prepares to do the double at her second World Under 20 Championships, with Australian Under 20 champion Aleksandra Stoilova (Clemson) also sharpening her Peru preparation when bolting to a time of 11.35 (+0.2) over 100m before clocking 23.30 (+1.5) in the 200m.

Set to join them this August for his Australian debut, Jett Grundy (Montana State) continued his breakthrough season with a run of 46.42 over 400m, rewriting his personal best by almost half a second.

Rounding out the college action, World Championships representative Stephanie Ratcliffe (Georgia) launched the hammer to a seasons best of 67.68m as she prepares to defend her NCAA title, while teammate Alexander Kolesnikoff (Georgia) made inroads back towards the 20m barrier in the shot put with 19.77m. Meanwhile, BIG10 titles over 800m went to Adam Spencer (Wisconsin) and Hayley Kitching (Penn State) in time of 1:47.96 and 2:02.54 respetively.

Adding to the action in Los Angeles, World Championships representative Natalie Rule led the way in the middle-distance ranks with a swift 15:07.00 performance over 5000m, while the 3000m steeplechase duo of Liam Cashin (Peter Burke) and Stella Radford stopped the clock in times of 8:39.42 and 9:41.11 respectively.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted 13/5/2024