Strike Rate Strong as Bisset and Hoare Podium in Rabat
Published Mon 29 May 2023
Olympic track stars Catriona Bisset and Olli Hoare have charged to podium finishes in company of some of the sport’s biggest names at the Rabat Diamond League in the early hours of this morning.
Racing to the second Diamond League podium of her career, Australian record holder Catriona Bisset (Ned Brophy-Williams) was valiant when taking up the challenge set by Kenya’s Mary Moraa, rewarded with her highest finish on the esteemed circuit – second place in 2:00.11.
Latching onto the back of the 2022 World Championships bronze medallist and reigning Commonwealth champion, the Australian embraced the 56-second opening lap as Moraa poured on the pressure to win in 1:58.72 – Bisset clinging onto silver ahead of her fast-finishing rivals headed by Sage Hurta-Klecker (USA) in 2:00.62.
“The goal was definitely to get myself in a good position in the first lap. I knew it was going to be fast because Moraa loves to front-run really quick. Learning from previous years as well, Diamond League racing can come to the first few hundred metres and the last. I knew if I could nail my race plan, then landing on the podium was very must possible,” Bisset said.
“A lot of that race was me focussing on technique and not letting myself fall to pieces, which is something I’ve been working on in training with (coach) Ned (Brophy-Williams). For me that is that last 100m and still getting something out of myself at the end of the race instead of over-striding and falling apart.
“I feel like everything is falling into place now. Last year, I made so many big changes to every part of my training and sometimes it takes a little while to see the fruits of your labour. I’ve got PBs in training and PBs in the gym and now it’s about applying all of that strength, so I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Returning to the track after a dominant summer down under, reigning Commonwealth champion and global medallist Olli Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) wasted no time in making his mark on the 2023 Diamond League scene, finishing in third place of the world-class 1500m field.
The 26-year-old could only be outpaced in the home straight by reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) and training partner Yared Nuguse (USA), laying down his fifth fastest time over the distance of 3:33.39 to recommence his outdoor campaign.
“The race didn’t go as quick as I expected it to go and it became more of a tactical. I wanted to stick on Jakob and outkick him at the end to make it more tactical but I wasn’t able to do it. I just didn’t have the legs in the last 100m but I was very close to him and I was competitive,” Hoare said.
“If third place at a Diamond League is a bit of a disappointment, it’s a good place to be. I’m looking forward to progressing to this race and building up to Oslo Diamond League in a couple of weeks. I just want to be competitive at the top end of the field. The one goal for this year is go through to Worlds and qualify for the final and come out with a medal or win.”
Also impressing over the metric mile, Olympic finalist Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams) raced to a seasons best time of 4:03.56 to finish in sixth place. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay took out the race in 3:54.03 as the East African nation posted the top four women across the line, while Hall raced prominently in the second pack with Cory McGee (USA) to finish in the top half of the field.
The Diamond League makes its next stop in Florence later this week, with the Rome meeting to be held on June 2 set to feature Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) fresh off a British Milers Club record in Manchester. The 21-year-old defeated Commonwealth silver medallist Ciara Mageean (Ireland) over 800m when clocking 1:58.92 to solidify the form of her domestic season on the world stage.
Australia’s top multi event athletes touched down in Austria for the annual Hypomeeting Gotzis, with Daniel Golubovic (Paul Pearce) producing the nation’s best result when finishing in sixth place on 8301 points, after an unfortunate Day Two for Ash Moloney (Steve Rippon) who did not complete the competition.
Golubovic’s personal best of 5.10m in the pole vault aided him to the second highest score of his decathlon career when also clocking 14.10 (+1.0) in the 110m hurdles and 48.63 over 400m, while Cedric Dubler (Chris Gaviglio) also posted over 8000 points when finishing 14th on 8009 points. Moloney sat on 4497 points after strong performances over 100m (10.39), 400m (46.46), long jump (7.60m) and a personal best in the shot put (15.20m) on Day One, before being hampered by food poisoning.
Taneille Crase (Glynis Nunn) finished in 18th place of the heptathlon on 5925 points, with her best scores coming in the form of clocking 13.46 (+0.7) in the 100m hurdles, 24.52 (+1.5) over and leaping 6.15m (+0.4) in the long jump.
The USATF LA Grand Prix witnessed four Australians take to the track, led by US-based Australian Lauren Ryan (Lara Rogers) who torched her way to a new 5000m personal best of 15:11.84 to finish in second place and propel herself to 13th on the Australian all-time list. World Championships representative Tess Kirsopp-Cole (Craig Mottram) made her return to the track with a win in Heat 3 of the 800m in 2:03.96, while Charlie Hunter (Pete Julian) raced to 10th place of the 1500m in 3:38.48. Brielle Erbacher (Jody Erbacher) rounded out the results in Los Angeles with an 11th place finish in the 3000m steeplechase as the clock read 10:00.95.
Further performances came in Germany and France, as Joseph Deng (Justin Rinaldi) continued his steady return to the track with a 1:46.86 performance for sixth place in Rehlingen, while Jye Perrott (Ben Liddy) finished fifth in Forbach with a seasons best run of 1:46.74. 19-year-old Australian champion Aiden Hinson (Chloe Stevens) added a second place finish in Forbach to his maiden international campaign, leaping 16.48m (+0.5) in the triple jump.
An national hammer throw record of 73.11m by 22-year-old Stephanie Ratcliffe (Harvard) last Friday set the tone for the blockbuster NCAA East and West preliminaries, as student-athletes competed for their ticket to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas from June 7-11. Ratcliffe was one of many Australian athletes to secure their spot in the final, with others including:
Carley Thomas (800m, Washington), Imogen Barrett (800m, Florida), Hayley Kitching (800m, Penn State), Rose Pittman (800m, UCLA), Adam Spencer (1500m, Wisconsin), Jesse Hunt (1500m, North Carolina), Alex Stitt (1500m, Oklahoma State), Izzy Thornton-Bott (1500m, Oregon), Toby Gillen (5000m, St Louis), Jackson Sharp (5000m, Wisconsin), Ky Robinson (5000m/10,000m, Stanford), Amelia Mazza-Downie (5000m/10,000m, New Mexico), Haftu Strintzos (10,000m, Villanova), Ed Trippas (3000m Steeplechase, Washington), Alexander Kolesnikoff (Shot Put, Harvard), James Joycey (Hammer Throw, North Carolina), Liana Davidson (Javelin, Texas A&M), Lyvante Su’emai (Discus, UCLA) and Camryn Newton-Smith (Heptathlon, Arkansas).
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 29/5/2023
