As the main qualifying test for athletes hoping to compete at the greatest competitions in the world, including as the Olympics and World Championships, all eyes were on the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth.
Gout Gout, Torrie Lewis, and Rohan Browning all had outstanding sprints at the race, and Peter Bol set an Australian record in the 800m. In another event, Olympic and world medallists Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson engaged in a thrilling high-jumping match.
Amid all the hype, however, two rising stars—one for the present and one for the future—were aiming to smash records.
Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull maintained her reputation as a middle-distance superstar by claiming the Australian Athletics Championship 1500m title with a win at 4:11.36. The Wollongong product, overall fifth-fastest of all time in the 1500m discipline, later won her fourth 5000m title by beating her own championship record.
Hull ran eight kilometers the next morning after landing in Perth late on Monday, although she acknowledged that she felt “dreadful.”
Since I’m typically far away, I looked back and thought, ‘He’s only right there,’ so I knew it was extremely terrible when I could still see my dad racing after me, she added.
But after working out on a grass track on Tuesday afternoon, Hull was certain she would perform well in the heats on Thursday.
Hull got out to a poor start in the 1500m final, but with 400m remaining, they kicked to gain some gap. She acknowledged that this experience was instructive after competing in the inaugural Grand Slam Track Meet in Jamaica the previous week.
She said, “I just had to keep my composure out there.”
“I just backed myself to be the most calm among the tension in that pack because I have so much experience with it; I could feel it out there.”
“I was very nervous, really nervous for this one but I feel like this is the hardest race we run all year, so I was just trying to tell myself that was normal.”
Meanwhile, whether you agree or disagree with the Olympic snub of teen prodigy Cameron Myers, he came back with guns blazing and seized the national title for the 1500m race.
After his poor run in last year’s national final, the 18-year-old missed Olympic selection despite qualifying with a world U18 record time of 3:33.26. The fierce competition from established athletes like Ollie Hoare, Adam Spencer and Stewart McSweyn meant that Myers faced a challenging selection landscape.
Myers was eager to bounce back despite the loss. He arrived stronger and more determined than ever before, and he brought a new perspective: “You have to believe that you can win any race that you’re in.”
At WA Athletics Stadium, Myers told reporters, “I was really disappointed coming off those champs last year, and I really do think it fuelled me to get the best out of myself this year.”
Myers has shown his doubters he’s the real deal with an impressive victory in Perth, and the middle-distance runner is hoping to make his senior global debut at the Tokyo World Championships in September.
“Sometimes in this sport you do need a disappointing experience just to get yourself going and get yourself fired up again,” Myers continued.
“So, I think that was so important for my development as an athlete and hopefully I can continue with that momentum now.
“When you go and change things that are not obviously working, I think that’s really when you’re going to reap the rewards.”
The 20th edition of the World Athletics Championships will be held September 13th to 21st at the state-of-the-art Japan National Stadium. This prestigious and highly-anticipated event will bring together over 2000 of the world’s top athletes from approximately 200 countries to compete in one of the biggest sporting spectacles on the globe.
