Walkers Chalk Up Records as Wheelies Roll On | Weekend Recap

From a pair of Australian race walking records to a flurry of World Para Athletics Championships qualifiers, Australia’s wide range of athletic talent was on display across the globe on a busy weekend of competition.

The Athletics Victoria 35km Race Walk Championships witnessed history at Albert Park, as a pair of Australian records were crushed by the Olympic duo of Rhydian Cowley (Brent Vallance) and Rebecca Henderson (Simon Baker).

Adding to the momentum of the Australian race walking contingent, Cowley crushed his former mark of 2:30:34 with a walk of 2:27:34, while Henderson raced to a record-breaking 2:47:44 to eclipse Allanah Pitcher’s performance of 2:50:23 from last month.  

Both results fall easily within the respective qualifying standards of 2:29:40 and 2:51:30 for the 2023 World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest this August, with Cowley becoming the first male officially qualified for the event and Henderson joining Pitcher in achieving the standard.

Switzerland proved a happy hunting ground for Australia’s wheelchair racers, as Rheed McCracken (T34, Louise Sauvage) led the charge of qualifying personal bests and qualifying performances for this year’s World Para Athletics Championships to be held in Paris in July.

McCracken drilled an A-qualifier over 800m with a scorching 1:41.93, matched by countryman Jake Lappin (T54, Jamie Green and Fred Periac) who roared to an A-qualifier of his own on the hot track in Arbon, clocking 1:32.95. Lappin set a new personal best of 47.93 over 400m to add to his weekend, while McCracken posted another A-qualifier of 15.57 (+1.7) in the 100m.

A flurry of B-qualifiers followed, with Luke Bailey (T54, Andrew Dawes) registering a swift 14.06 (+1.3) over 100m and  Sam McIntosh (T52, Fred Periac) joining in with a 17.61 performance, while Sam Rizzo (T54, Richard Colman) hit B-qualifiers of 1:33.06, 2:59.16 and 10:13.77 over 800m, 1500m and 5000m respectively. Matching Rizzo’s middle-distance feat was Angela Ballard (T53, Fred Periac) who rolled her way to times of 1:53.68 and 3:33.42 when also adding a 400m B-qualifier of 56.64, while emerging talent Sarah Clifton-Bligh (T33, Louise Sauvage) set a significant personal best of 2:34.93 over 800m.

The iconic Great Manchester Run saw Stewart McSweyn (Nic Bideau) return to the podium on the world stage, completing the 10km course in a time of 28:35 for third place, followed by teammate Jack Rayner (Nic Bideau) in 28:41. The race was won by Eyob Faniel (Italy) in a time of 28:27, with the elite field spearheading the masses through the streets of Manchester.

Throwing in Germany, World Under 20 finalist  Mackenzie Mielczarek (Uwe Hohn) piled metres onto her former personal best of 54.91m, throwing 57.11m on Saturday before backing up on Sunday with a stunning 59.59m to clinch the Under 23 HALPLUS title. Teammate Kathryn Mitchell (Uwe Hohn) opened her international campaign with a 57.16m effort for silver on Saturday.

Adding to the Australian success in Germany, Jye Edwards (Dick Telford) rolled to his fastest time in 2021 when opening his season on the track, clocking 3:36.77 for fourth place in the 1500m, while Joseph Deng (Justin Rinaldi) made his return over 800m in 1:48.17 for fifth place.

The World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series made its fourth stop at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama, with a recap of the 19 Australians in action available HERE.  

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 22/5/2023