WEEKEND REVIEW | TIERNAN SETS NEW OCEANIA RECORD WHILE 4 MORE ATHLETES POST TOKYO QUALIFIERS
Published Sun 06 Dec 2020
All across Australia and all the way to America, Australia’s track and field athletes impressed as the Tokyo Olympic qualifying season re-started.
Rio Olympian Pat Tiernan (Mark Rowland) set the pace for the Australians in the US on Sunday, setting a new Oceanian and Australian record in the 10,000m at the Sound Running meet in Orange Country, California.
Placing second, Tiernan clocked 27:22.55, breaking Tasmania’s Stewart McSweyn’s record of 27:23.80 set at the from Zatopek:10 last year. The result is an Olympic Qualifier, adding to his 5000m qualifier from July 2019.
Back home in Australia, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Nina Kennedy (Paul Burgess) proved she is in top form in her first competition of the season. At WA Athletics Stadium on Friday night, she vaulted 4.70m – just 1cm shy of her PB set in 2018.
While the Paralympic qualifying period has continued throughout the pandemic, this weekend saw a further six athletes secure nomination standards.
Newcomer Samantha Schmidt (Ralph Newton) threw 32.32 in the Discus F38, bettering her previous PB by 1.62m in Brisbane on Saturday.
Double 2019 World Champion Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders) has already been selected to the Australian Paralympic Team, but still achieved another qualification standard, clocking 3:47.16 in the 1500m T13. Rio Paralympian and 2017 World Champion Deon Kenzie (Philo Saunders) ran the 1500m T38 in 4:01.94.
2019 World Championship bronze medallist Claire Keefer (John Eden) threw 8.15m in the F41 shot put, also a nomination standard for Tokyo 2020.
Rio Paralympian Sam McIntosh (Fred Periac) also secured himself a nomination standard, clocking 17.63 in the 100m T52.
In other results over the weekend, Jackson Sharp (Mick Byrne) secured a new PB in the 5000m at the Sound Running event in the US. Placing first in his heat, he clocked 13:44.00.
In the same event, Cameron Griffith (Tom Schwartz) also clocked a new PB of 13:39.80, placing 6th in the 2nd heat. Charlie Hunter (Ben Thomas) ran 13:57.90. In the women’s event, Heidi See placed first in her heat, running the 5000m in 15:36.68.
B nomination standards were achieved by three Para-athletes aiming to make their Paralympic debut next year.
Wheelchair racer Luke Bailey (Andrew Dawes) clocked 14.31 over 100m, bettering his personal best by 0.05s. Jaydon Page (Sebastian Kuzminski) set a new PB in the 100m T57, clocking 11.20 (+1.0 W) while Kailyn Joseph jumped 4.29 in the Long Jump T37, with a result of 4.29 (+2.6 W).
Posted: 7/12/2020
