WEEKEND WRAP | Barber produces world-class win in Finland

Australian track and field athletes continued their trek towards Tokyo, with progress made both domestically and abroad.

Reigning javelin world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber (Mike Barber) made an immediate impression when beginning her international campaign, throwing 60.05m to take a confidence-boosting win in Kuortane, Finland.

Barber will now progress to the Oslo leg of the Wanda Diamond League, with her team confident she is in peak condition and that a big throw is just around the corner as she builds towards Tokyo.

Jacinta Beecher (Gary Bourne) made it a pair of Australian wins in Finland, taking out the 200m in a time of 23.41 to secure her maiden European win. The 23-year-old has strung together a series of strong performances overseas and is becoming an asset for the ever strengthening Australian sprinting crop.

Hannah Jones (Sally Pearson) produced a clutch performance in Leverkusen, Germany – running 13.06 in the 100m hurdles to cross the line in first place. The run will strengthen Jones’ position in the world rankings, where she currently stands right on the tipping point of the Olympic quota.

Sam Blake (self-coached) continued his stunning improvement in 2021, tearing around two laps of the track in a new personal best of 1:47.01. Blake has established himself as one to watch having also run 3:38.45 earlier this season whilst studying overseas.

The domestic action was headlined by heartbreak for Matthew Clarke (Adam Didyk), who clocked 8:22.13 in the 3000m steeplechase on the Gold Coast – just 0.13 seconds outside of the Olympic standard.

One week earlier Clarke had run an agonising 8:22.62 over the distance, with the Olympic qualifier proving a stretch too far for the gutsy South Australian. Clarke’s Tokyo dream remains in the balance as he awaits overseas results that will impact his world ranking.

Abbey Caldwell (Gavin Burren) closed her domestic season with a slick 4:07.69 over 1500m to take the win, keeping the possibility of an Olympic berth alive by returning to the quota where she joins Georgia Griffith, along with automatic qualifiers Linden Hall and Jessica Hull.

The 19-year-old entered the season with a personal best of 4:19.55 and leaves as one of the nation’s best metric milers, highlighted by her silver medal at this year’s national championships.

Morgan Mitchell (Elizabeth Matthews) put in a much improved 2:03.81 over 800m in Bankstown as she builds back towards her peak form ahead of this year’s Games, assisted by Australian Under 20 representative Matilda Ryan who was on pacing duties.

Mitchell sits within the Olympic quota and Tokyo would be her second Olympic Games, having made the semi-final of the 400m in Rio before converting to middle distance.

Georgia Winkup (Ben Liddy) registered a swift 9:40.25 in the 3000m steeplechase on the Gold Coast, consolidating her form after a strong performance in Townsville last week off limited training.

Daniel Bounty (T38, Peter Bock) scorched his way around the track in the 1500m to shave over 3.5 seconds off his personal best, running 4:10.08. The time is just one second shy of the Paralympic A standard, with the young Queenslander in fine form as he continues his rapid improvement. 

Ari Gesini (T38, Sebastian Kuzminski) pulled out his best jump of the day in the final round, leaping 5.84m as he continues his build towards this year’s Paralympics having recently secured his second qualifier.

Meanwhile in the 400m, Alissa Jordaan (T47, Sebastian Kuzminski) ran a solid 61.67 whilst Rhiannon Clarke (T38, Danny Kevan) clocked 64.44.

On the roads it was Jemima Montag (Brent Vallance) who walked 15km in 65:30 - a brilliant performance that places her within reach of the 20km national record. 

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 28/6/2021