WEEKEND REVIEW | Oceania and World Records crumble and more athletes qualify for Tokyo

Despite the year drawing to a close, Australia’s current crop of elite athletes have not slowed down, with some notable results posted over the weekend.

Ash Moloney (Eric Brown) headlined the weekend’s action when tallying 8492 points in the decathlon at the Queensland Combined Events Championships to break both the Australian and Oceania record, by two points. 

At just 20-years-old, Moloney proved he is a star on the rise with several personal best performances throughout the event, including a 45.82-second 400m - the third fastest time ever run over the distance in a decathlon. 

Moloney’s scorching form saw him run 14.17-seconds for the 110m hurdles, throw 57.77m and 43.94m in the javelin and discus respectively, along with clearing 4.80m in the pole vault and 2.11m in the high jump. 

With these impressive performances in the bank, Moloney was set the task of running 4:48.70 if he was to break Jagan Hames’ 1998 Australian and Oceania Area record of 8490 points. 

The 2018 U20 world champion managed to do just that, crossing the line as the clock trickled over 4:48 and stopped at 4:48.48 to secure Moloney a monumental personal best and etch his name into the record books. 

Olympian Cedric Dubler (Eric Brown) registered 8367 points to meet the Tokyo Olympic qualifying standard of 8350 points, illustrating Australia’s depth in the event. 

James Turner (Iryna Dvoskina) continued his dominance in the world of Para-athletics, setting yet another world record time of 23.52 in the T36 200m. Turner has switched his focus to the shorter distances in recent times after the T36 800m was removed from the schedule for Tokyo in 2021. 

Whilst the 200m will not feature at the Games either, Turner is set to compete in the 100m and 400m and is shaping up as the man to beat. 

They weren’t the only two Olympic qualifiers over the weekend, with Sarah Carli (Melissa Logan) clocking 55.09 for the 400m hurdles at the Albie Thomas Mile to secure her maiden Olympic berth. 

Carli’s time was a personal best by 0.34-seconds and moved her into fourth position on the Australian all-time rankings. 

The main events of the men’s and women’s miles at the Albie Thomas Mile may have lost some competitors due to concerns regarding COVID-19, but the local talent put on a clinic. 

The women’s race was taken out by Keely Small (Philo Saunders) in a time of 4:33.57 after a blistering 60.91-second final lap saw her tear away from the field. 

Jenny Blundell (James Fitzgerald) finished in second place in 4:34.05 ahead of promising teenager Imogen Gardiner (UTN) in 4:39.23. 

The men’s mile featured a stacked field and was taken out by Jye Edwards (Dick Telford) after an injury-ravaged few years. 

Edwards ran 3:57.30 to win the event ahead of Oliver Hoare (Mick Byrne) in 3:58.26 and Jeff Riseley (Justin Rinaldi) in 3:59.99. 

Hoare looked to be the form runner in the lead up to the race with the fourth fastest mile time of 2020 (3:53.35) to his name. 

Full of confidence, the 23-year-old made a seemingly decisive move with 200m remaining to overtake Edwards, who fought back brilliantly in the home straight to claim the win. 

Riseley was caught up in a fall during the race and worked hard to reattach the casualties, making his 3:59.99 performance all the more impressive. 

Other notable performances included Matthew Clarke clocking 8:43.03 for the 3000m steeplechase in South Australia to demolish the field, along Brooke Stratton (Russell Stratton) jumping 6.71m (+1.4) at the AIS to continue her improvement this season. 

Stratton finished ahead of U20 star Annie McGuire (Gary Bourne) who equalled her personal best mark of 6.49m (+1.1), closing in on the U20 Australian record of 6.60m. 

In the men’s long jump, Henry Frayne (Gary Bourne) relished the return to competition when jumping 7.69m in his first jump since February this year. 

Meanwhile back at the AIS,  400m Australian record holder in the T47 class, Alissa Jordaan (Sebastian Kuzminski) who ran a swift 60.44-second, along with fellow T47 athlete Jaydon Page (Sebastian Kuzminksi) who clocked 7.45 in the 60m sprint (-1.3) before returning to record a time of 11.39 in the 100m (-0.7). 

Paralympic sprinter in the T13 class Chad Perris (Iryna Dvoskina) also completed the 60m/100m double, recording times of 7.26 and (-1.3) and 11.23 (-1.4) respectively. 

Four-time Paralympian Angie Ballard (Fred Periac) went head to head with Emily Tapp (Fred Periac) from the T54 class across a series of four events - including the 100m, 400m, 1500m and 5000m races. 

Ballard prevailed in all four encounters, but the two Para stars put on an exciting display in the1500m and 5000m races in particular, where the winning margins were both under one-second. 

In the F38 class, Jayden Sawyer (Mike Barber) launched the javelin 46.58m. 

T38 athlete Daniel Bounty (Peter Bock) clocked 4:13.41 in the 1500m at the Glynis Nunn Shield in Queensland, a time that places the 19-year-old in the upper echelon of athletes in his class on the world stage. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse 

Posted: 21/12/2020