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The men’s 4x400m relay team has moved one step closer to confirming a lane in London after clocking 3:01.58 for second at the Colorful Daegu Meet in Daegu (KOR) this evening.
 

 

Lead out by national champion Steve Solomon (NSW), the baton was then handed to world championships bronze medallist Ben Offereins (WA) and Olympic nominee Brendan Cole (ACT) before Australian FlameTristan Thomas (Tas) brought the team home.

 

The impressive run sees the aggregate two-time performance of the team improve to 6:03.14 (3:01.56 from the IAAF world championships and 3:01.58 tonight). When compared to the IAAF rankings issued on March 2, 2012, the Australian team sits 10th overall and well within the top-16 countries, who will make up the starters at the Olympic Games.

 

Solomon, who was competing on his 19th birthday, said: “That was awesome, the race couldn’t have gone better. My own 400 was as solid as I wanted it to be, and from what I could see of the other boys’ runs we were strong across the board.

 

“We knew what we had to do here and to come away with a result that essentially sets us up the best we can for London is great, it certainly makes for a great birthday.

 

“I’m so pumped for the team as a whole, this is something that we knew would come but to now have it is oh so sweet. The times seemed to take forever to come up on the screen but its amazing how quickly lactic acid disappears when a result like that pops up.”

 

A second Australian team of Sean Wroe (Vic), Alex Beck (Qld), Matt Lynch (NSW) and Alex Carew (Vic) were third in 3:07.29.

 

Meanwhile in the women's 1500m Kaila McKnight (Vic) and Zoe Buckman (Vic) started, while Jeff Riseley (Vic) lined up in the men's 800m.

 

Eunice Jepkoech Sum (KEN) won the women’s event in a time of 4:05.99, with Meskerem Assefa (4:05.62) second and McKnight third (4:05.64). All three placegetters times were below the previous world lead of 4:07.00. Buckman was fourth in 4:07.25.

 

In the men’s event, Riseley placed sixth in 1:45.98. Mohammed Aman (ETH) won the event in a meet record time of 1:43.51, with Leonard Kirwa Kosencha (KEN, 1:44.74) second and Andreas Bube (DEN, 1:45.27) third.

 

McKnight and Riseley will next start in the women’s 1500m and men’s 800m respectively at Round 2 of the Samsung Diamond League on Saturday night.

 

In other Australian results:

-       Australian championship silver medallist Beck won the men’s 400m ‘B’ Race in 46.73, with Wroe, who raced for the first time since having his appendix removed, was second in 47.21.

-       Vicky Parnov cleared 4.00m in the women’s pole vault, the same height she did at the Doha Diamond League this past weekend. The event was won by Anastasia Savchenko (RUS) with a 4.60m jump.

-       Brandon Starc (NSW) sailed over 2.10m in the men’s high jump to meet his pre-departure standard for the 2011 IAAF world junior championships. He placed 7th overall.

-       Ignisious Gaisah (GHA) won the men’s long jump with a 7.99m leap, with Robbie Crowther (ACT) 11th thanks to a 7.12m best mark.

 

The IAAF is expected to reissue official relay rankings during May, via its website www.iaaf.org.

 

For full results from the Colorful Daegu Meet, please click here.

Pirrenee Steinert & Caitlin Willis Berlin World Champs Interviews August 2009

© 2009 The Runner's Tribe, all rights reserved. Published Tuesday August 18, 2009

Brought to you by Edward Ovadia who is in Berlin with official IAAF accreditation covering the championships for Runnerstribe.com

 

 

 

 

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Age: 24
Coach: Tony Fairweather
Achievements: 2009 NSW Champion over 400m, 2nd at the Sydney Track Classic 400m, 4th Australian at 2009 National Championships, Qualified for the 2009 World Championships in the 4x400m relay.
PB: 53.10
 

 

"I have been involved in Athletics since the age of 6. I have always loved to run and always knew that big things in the sport was my destiny. I seriously started to train full time after year 12 schooling. I then was able to get serious about training. Things were on the rise when I was suddenly struck down with 2 years of injury. But I fought my way back and now find myself off to the World Championships in Berlin for the 4x400m relay team, and running the best I ever have. My next major goal is to qualify as an individual 400m runner for Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. I am very excited about receiving a Runner's Tribe sponsorship as having media coverage on a popular site such as Runner's Tribe is fantastic for any athlete's profile. I am also really looking forward to being decked out in New Balance athletic gear as this will certainly reduce my financial stresses"

'I fought my way back and now find myself off to the World Championships in Berlin for the 4x400m relay team, and running the best I ever have. My next major goal is to qualify as an individual 400m runner for Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.'
Pirrenee Steinert