Repechage Redemption for Caldwell on Day 3 in Paris

Australia secured a slice of history as Abbey Caldwell took out the first Olympic Athletics repechage heat to advance to the 800m semi-finals, while Bree Masters handled the pressure of an Olympic 100m showdown and pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall comfortably progressed in style.

Masters Makes Most of Olympic Opportunity

Bree Masters (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) who has only been training seriously in athletics since the end of 2019, was pleased she could back up her season best run of 11.26 seconds from the heat yesterday, finishing seventh in Semi-Final 2 with a 11.34 (-0.1) performance.

“I knew going out there I would have to run very, very fast, like much faster than my current PB of 11.23,” Bree said. 

“Unfortunately, we didn't get a PB, but to back up with 11.34 and zero wind is pretty solid for me. I hope we can build on this season and come back even better next season.

“I hope to one day potentially be good enough to go into Diamond League meets and to be making consistent semi-finals and pushing for finals.”

Knowing an Olympic final was out of reach in 2024 she wanted to make the most of the experience. 

“Oh, so much belief. I've been in the sport for five years now, coming from Surf Lifesaving. Yesterday, I felt like I was just a beach sprinter on the sand and now I'm an Olympic semi-finalist. I'm still kind of riding that,” Bree said.

“I know that there's areas that I can work on to be even better and I’m always constantly wanting to improve and be better, but also being satisfied with what I've done here today.”

Caldwell progresses but Bissett misses in 800m 

A smart and gutsy run by Abbey Caldwell (VIC, Gavin Burren) has delivered a win in heat one of the 800m repechage in a time of 2:00.07, to progress to the semi-finals.  

The 23-year-old on Olympic debut backed up after placing fifth in her heat in a season best of 1:58.49 just 15 hours earlier.

“Over the line, the feeling was definitely pure joy,” Abbey said.

“But now it's relief and pretty much just refocus. There's still plenty more to do and we've got one more, hopefully two more, jobs to complete.

“I'm so excited. I'm hoping that the semi-finals is an opportunity to actually bring out my best. I want to be in that front pack and I want to be challenging everyone. I really want to put my head down and see what I can get out of myself.”

Unfortunately, Catriona Bissett (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) could not reproduce her best form with the short turnaround in the repechage. She placed third in repechage heat three in 2:02.35.

The Australian record holder paced herself well to have the legs to kick in the home straight but couldn’t find a direct line through and lost momentum. She was physically ill after the race from the exertion of trying to progress.

Australia will be represented in the semi-finals in Paris (04:35pm AEST Monday) by Abbey and Claudia Hollingsworth who auto-qualified from the heats.

Marschall comfortably clear and through to Pole Vault Final

World Championship bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall (WA, Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) made light work of pole vault qualification. He cleared 5.40m, 5.60m and 5.70 on his first attempts and passed at 5.75m. 

Kurtis is happy with his technique and form but wants to limit his number of jumps due to an ankle injury that set him back a few months ago.

“The jump's there but the number of jumps isn't necessarily there,” Kurtis said.

“I played it safe and played it smart and got through. That's all we needed to do. 

“Technically everything's flowing, everything's good. My body weight's good, my speed's good, strength's good, everything's lining up. We couldn't have got through any smoother.”

Azzopardi just misses progressing, Browning not at his best in 100m heats

For the first time since the Sydney Olympics, Australia has fielded two starters in the men’s 100m, Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy) and Joshua Azzopardi (NSW, Rob Marks).

In his Olympic debut, Azzopardi had a big task ahead of him to qualify for the semi-finals with only the first three guaranteed of progression. 

Facing up to three athletes with sub-10 times this season, he would need to improve on his recent PB of 10.14s. But the no-fuss professional, didn’t seem to be phased by the opposition and the occasion, getting away to a terrific start and more than matching it with the field, placing a close fourth in a time of 10.20s.

He missed by just 0.04 seconds in progressing to the men’s 100m semi-finals in Paris. No surprise Josh was pleased with his effort.

“I obviously would have loved to make that semi-final, but to be added into the 100m late and to come fourth in my heat against some massive men, it was just awesome to be out there and I’m stoked with how it went,” Josh said.

Racing in heat six of the 100m, there were positive signs for Rohan who has endured a difficult year of injury, but always shown up. He placed sixth in an equal season’s best time of 10.29s.

But Rohan was reluctant to use injury as an excuse.

“I'm not scapegoating injury this year,” Rohan said. “I came into this healthy for the past two months and actually really confident in where I was at. I saw glimmers that I was in the same shape as I was in Tokyo but didn't put it together and was just off the pace today.”

Asked if he needs to change anything?

“I don't think I need to do anything revolutionary. I think I just need to continue to evolve and tweak things,” Rohan said.

“In this sport where the margins are so slim, you don't need to go and do something drastic. I feel like I have a great team around me. I feel like we've got a model that I know has been working, even though the results haven't been there.”

Golubovic completes his first Olympic decathlon

The pole vault, the eighth event of the Decathlon, was a bright spot for Daniel Golubovic (QLD, Paul Pearce), clearing 4.60m, to equal his season’s best. In the javelin, the penultimate event, he launched 59.33m. Steady progress had seen him move up to 19th on 6880 points going into the last event the 1500m, where he finished event in a competitive 4:39.02 to close his campaign

Daniel finishes his Olympic decathlon with a tally of 7566 points and 19th position. 

While Daniel’s first Olympic experience was a positive one, he has decided this will also be his last Games.

“You know what? There's good days in sport, there's bad days in sport,” Daniel said. 

“I had myself a couple of rough ones. But this was the most incredible experience of my career. The crowd, the environment, the combination of being in the Village and being around just so much talent it is truly infectious,”

Daniel is one of four co-captains for the athletics team in Paris and he will be getting around the other athletes and keeping the positive energy up within the team.

1500m Men Fall Short in Repechage Round

Stewart McSweyn (TAS, Nic Bideau) took the lead with three laps to run and tried to stretch out the field but as the bell was ringing for the final lap he was being passed. He tried to respond and couldn’t, finishing 12th with a time of 3:37.49.

“I thought I had the ability to hopefully get that Final and see what happens,” Stewart said. 

“Our three boys went in with big goals, so it's disappointing not to achieve them.”

In repechage heat 2, Oliver Hoare (NSW, Dathan Ritzenhein) also pushed hard at the front. The pace was quicker than the earlier repechage, Ollie with a runner to follow, sitting in 2nd for most of the race. 

Sitting sixth, Adam Spencer (VIC, Mick Byrne) was well positioned and as the pace gathered in the run to home, Ollie took the lead with 200m, running hard but passed at the top of the straight. He placed fifth in 3:34.00 and Adam in sixth with a season’s best of 3:34.45. 

“I just don't feel like I was prepared these Olympics,” Ollie said.

“I think looking at my racing and the mental side of it, I just don't think I was prepared and that’s what you get when you’re not prepared.”

Adam was optimistic after his Olympic debut:

“I was pretty happy with how I raced tactically,” Adam said. “I was sitting in a good position, probably about fifth away - striking position for the top three, but I just didn't have the legs in the last 300.”

By Andrew Reid, Athletics Australia and Australian Olympic Committee
Posted 4/08/2024