Triple gold for Australia in London bolstered by national relay record

The stars of Australian athletics have made a statement days before the Paris Olympics begins, with Mackenzie Little, Nina Kennedy and Oli Hoare clinching wins at the London Diamond League, while the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team strike again with another record breaking performance.

Royal North Shore Hospital registrar Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) opened the meet for the Australians with a bang, sailing the javelin to 66.27m on her first attempt, en route to securing gold and a new personal best.

“I’ve felt really fulfilled working this year, so I think holistically I’ve been in a good mental space, despite it being busy and tiring sometimes,” Little said.

Despite delivering the world’s second largest throw of the year, and winning by 0.69-metres ahead of Adriana Vilagos’ Serbian record of 65.58, the global medallist says she won’t be relying on her history of success when competing at the pinnacle meet.

“I’m thrilled at my performance but there’s definitely that unsettled feeling knowing that athletes like (reigning world champion) Haruka (Kitaguchi, JPN), Adriana, and Victoria  (Hudson, AUT) will be there with fires absolutely burning inside, with lots to prove. I think the event will be really dynamic and open but I now need to keep everything in check and use the nerves and expectations as fuel for some explosive technical throws in Paris.”

Running into the history books with their third Oceania record this year, the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team (Cathalina Walsh) passed the baton around the track in a time of 42.48.

Exploding out of the blocks, Ella Connolly (Andrew Murphy) passed the baton to relay mainstayer Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman), with smooth transitions continuing through to Kristie Edwards (David Reid), as Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis (Andrew Iselin) stormed down the home straight. The quartet finished fourth behind the new world leaders Great Britain (41.55), France (42.10) as well as Great Britain’s second team (42.46).

“It felt great out there today. The conditions were great, there’s an amazing crowd of 60,000 out here, so it’s definitely a great confidence boost pre-Paris,” Masters said.

“We’ve got so much depth in our squad and we’re so interchangeable and adaptable in any leg. We’ve proven that by breaking the record with changing team members.”

Edwards echoed Masters comments stating, “It gives me heaps of confidence. I was nervous out there because I hadn’t run with the actual team for a little while but it was a great hit out and so good to know we can run fast in that environment and that order.”

Contesting the Men’s 4x100m relay was the Australian team of Sebastian Sultana (Greg Smith), Jacob Despard (Rolf Ohman), Calab Law (Andrew Iselin) and Joshua Azzopardi (Rob Marks) who finished second behind Japan (38.07) in 38.31, for their fastest time as a team this year.

World champion Nina Kennedy (Paul Burgess and James Fitzpatrick) won her fifth consecutive competition this year, with a 4.85m performance to cement her place as a true contender in Paris.

Amongst a world class field that included Olympic champion Katie Moon (USA) and World Indoor champion Molly Caudery (GBR), only Canadian Alysha Newman and Kennedy could clear 4.75m. While both women were unable to clear 4.85m on their first attempt, Kennedy locked in first place on her second jump, while Newman failed all three attempts.

Oliver Hoare (Dathan Ritzenhein) made it three wins for the Australians in London when clocking a season’s best of 3:49.03 in the Emsley Carr Mile. A dramatic start to the race saw three athletes fall down with no restart, but it did not deter the Australian contingent of four.

Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) led the field throughout the race, until Hoare put his foot on the accelerator with 250m to go to overtake his compatriot. Though McSweyn fell away in the closing stages of the race, he crossed the line in 3:49.59 for fifth place, while teen sensation Cameron Myers (Dick Telford) finished sixth in 3:50.16. Adam Spencer (Mick Byrne) closed out the field in 3:55.49.

Australian record holder Catriona Bisset (Ned Brophy-Williams) placed ninth in the Women’s 800m, clocking 1:58.12 for the fastest time over two laps by an Australian woman this year. The race was won by GBR’s Keely Hodgkinson in a world leading time and national record of 1:54.61, with the whole field completing the race in under two-minutes.

Athletes competing at the Paris Olympics will now make their way to Montpellier for Athletics Australia’s pre-Olympic staging camp, before the Athletics program begins on August 1.

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 21/7/2024