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Olympic nominees Brendan Cole (ACT) and Lauren Boden (ACT) will launch their international campaigns in the 400m hurdles this Thursday, with the duo joining the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams on entry lists at the International Track and Field Meet in Shizuoka (JPN).

 

Competition will continue in Japan this Sunday, when Melissa Breen (ACT), who yesterday clocked yet another personal best of 11.30, will line up in the 100m.

 

The Samsung Diamond League returns on 11 May in Doha (QAT). Flying the Australian flag are Olympic nominees Benn Harradine (Vic) and Kim Mickle (WA) in the discus throw and javelin respectively, while Ryan Gregson (NSW) and Jeremy Roff (NSW) will look to stake their claim for nomination to the Australian Olympic Committee in the 1500m.

 

Closing out the upcoming fortnight’s action is the IAAF World Race Walking Cup where Australia will field a team of 16 across all three disciplines – 10km (junior), 20km and 50km.

 

In other results from across the weekend:

-       Jeff Hunt (NSW) last night clocked 2:14:19 at the Hamburg Marathon. The event was won by Shami Dawit (ETH) in a time 2:05:58.

-       Dale Stevenson (Vic) heaved 19.85m to win the Triton Invitational in San Diego (USA).

-       Stevenson was joined by IAAF world junior championships bound Damien Birkinhead (Vic), who threw a personal best 18.48m with the 7.26kg shot.

-     Julian Wruck (Qld) and Scott Martin (Vic) threw 64.10m and 61.03m in the discus throw at the Triton Invitational in San Diego (USA).

 

May 3: International Track & Field Meet – Shizuoka (JPN)

200m: Andrew McCabe (Qld), Melissa Breen (ACT)

400m: Tamsyn Manou (Vic)

800m: James Gurr (NSW)

400m hurdles: Brendan Cole (ACT), Tristan Thomas (ACT), Lauren Boden (ACT)

4 x 100m relay (men): Josh Ross (Vic), Tim Leathart (NSW), Anthony Alozie (Vic), Andrew McCabe (Qld), Isaac Ntiamoah (NSW) (final team to be announced)

4 x 100m relay (women): Charlotte Van Veenendaal (Qld), Hayley Butler (NSW), Jessica Knox (NSW), Melissa Breen (ACT), Crystal Attenborough (NT) (final team to be announced)

4 x 400m relay (men): Alex Carew (Vic), Tristan Thomas (ACT), Brendan Cole (ACT), Kurt Mulcahy (NSW)

 

May 5: Oxy Invitational – Eagle Rock (USA)

800m: Alex Rowe (Vic)

3000m steeplechase: Peter Nowill (Qld)

 

May 5: Oregon Relays – Eugene (USA)

1500m: Lachlan Renshaw (NSW)

 

May 5: Athletics Victoria XCR – Balnarring (Vic)

4km: Kaila McKnight (Vic), Victoria Mitchell (Vic)

 

May 6: Golden Grand Prix – Kawasaki (JPN)

100m: Joshua Ross (Vic), Melissa Breen (ACT)

800m: James Gurr (NSW), Tamsyn Manou (Vic)

400m hurdles: Brendan Cole (ACT), Lauren Boden (ACT)

Long jump: Kerrie Perkins (ACT)

Javelin: Hamish Peacock (Tas)

4 x 100m relay (men): Josh Ross (Vic), Tim Leathart (NSW), Anthony Alozie (Vic), Andrew McCabe (Qld), Isaac Ntiamoah (NSW) (final team to be announced)

4 x 100m relay (women): Charlotte Van Veenendaal (Qld), Hayley Butler (NSW), Jessica Knox (NSW), Melissa Breen (ACT), Crystal Attenborough (NT) (final team to be announced)

4 x 400m relay (men): Alex Carew (Vic), Tristan Thomas (ACT), Brendan Cole (ACT), Kurt Mulcahy (NSW)

 

May 11: Samsung Diamond League (Round 1) – Doha (QAT)

400m hurdles: Lauren Boden (ACT)

800m: Tamsyn Manou (Vic)

1500m: Jeremy Roff (NSW), Ryan Gregson (NSW)

Discus throw: Benn Harradine (Vic)

Javelin: Kim Mickle (WA)

 

May 12: Healthy Kidney 10km – New York (USA)

10km: Ben St Lawrence (NSW) 

May 12-13: IAAF World Race Walking Cup – Saransk (RUS)

10km walk (junior): Nathan Brill (Vic), Jesse Osborne (Qld), Blake Steele (SA), Kristie Goznik (SA), Rachel Tallent (Vic)

20km walk: Luke Adams (NSW), Dane Bird-Smith (Qld), Rhydian Cowley (Vic), Chris Erickson (Vic), Adam Rutter (NSW), Nicole Fagan (NSW), Regan Lamble (Vic), Beki Lee (NSW), Claire Tallent (SA)

50km walk: Jared Tallent (Vic), Ian Rayson (ACT)

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Australian Flame captain Steve Hooker will launch his 2012 campaign at the Adelaide Track Classic this weekend, as theQantas Australian Athletics Tour begins with a bang on Saturday, January 28.

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Paralympic gold medallist Evan O’Hanlon (ACT) has tonight improved his own T38 100m world record at the Brisbane Track Classic, as Australia’s golden girl of the track Sally Pearson (QLD) opened her domestic campaign in blistering fashion.

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Australian record holder and long jump world leader Mitchell Watt says that the pressure to win gold at the world championships in Daegu is an added motivation.

 

The 23-year-old has the four furthest jumps in the world this year, each with their own significance. The first saw him crowned national champion back in April, in Melbourne, while the second secured his first Diamond League win in Shanghai. The third (8.54m), in Stockholm, set a new Oceania record and the fourth, in London, saw him remain undefeated in the Diamond League.

 

Unsurprisingly, as the only athlete to have jumped further than 8.40m this year, Watt has found himself arrive in Daegu as favourite to win his first global title, a position that sits comfortably with him.

 

Watt said: “At nationals when I jumped that 8.44 I think that was a really good sign and I would’ve been really disappointed if I didn’t improve on that when I did come to Europe, so it was nice to get that.

 

“Hopefully I will push it out even further while I’m here, but it’s sort of progressed really nicely with the Diamond Leagues and stuff and I’ve been able to get some good wins there. Everything is pretty much going to plan at the moment.

 

“It [being named favourite] means I’ve had a good season really. In 2009 [world championships] I was looking at these guys that used to jump 8.20 every week and I was like ‘I don’t know how they do it’ and now I’m pretty much doing 8.30s and 8.40s each time I compete.

 

“If anything I think it’s going to make me jump further, I love a bit of pressure and that’s the thing I don’t like, going out there and not feeling nervous and just being too relaxed, so I think it’s really going to help me fire up and jump even further.

 

“I want to jump over 8.50 again but I mean, saying that, there’s always the weather and all those kind of things. Obviously we’ve been trying to peak here all year so another personal best would be nice, but whatever it takes.

 

“In Stockholm and London both my winning jumps were in round two, and in Stockholm I had 8.34 in round one, so we’re definitely looking to do something similar to that here.”

 

Two years ago Watt finished third at the world championships in Berlin, to takebronze with 8.37m. Compatriot and Commonwealth champion Fabrice Lapierre, who is Daegu as well asRobbie Crowther, finished in fourth while Dwight Phillips (USA) took gold and Godfrey Mokoena(RSA) silver.

 

Watt continued: “I remember doing a thing with you guys [the media] and just thinking there was talk of a medal and I thought you guys were joking. I was honestly not expecting to get a medal there and it’s definitely a lot different this time around.

 

“I’ve said it a few times but I’ll be disappointed if I don’t end up with the gold and that’s kind of put a bit of extra pressure on me saying that, but it’s the truth.

 

“He’s (Irving Saladino – PAN) definitely got the potential to jump big and also the two British guys (Chris Tomlinson and Greg Rutherford). They’ve sort of been finishing top 1-2-3 in the Diamond Leagues all year, pretty much.

 

“Then there’s Dwight Phillips, the reigning champion, he hasn’t jumped since I think Shanghai, he’s just been back home preparing, But I think as well that you can tell by the Diamond League points, it’s so spread out, that everyone’s sort of spread out the wins and the seconds and thirds.

 

“There could be another new guy that comes up and breaks his personal best by a big way, so you never know.”

 

For more information on the 2011 IAAF world championships including Australian Flame team information, athlete profiles, news and results, please visit athletics.com.au.

IAAF world championships
Daegu (KOR)
August 27 – September 4, 2011

The 2011 IAAF World Championships are LIVE on SBS TWO with daily highlights from 27 August – 5 September.

 

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When I was a kid, I can remember a song my father and his mates would sing an old wartime song whenever they gathered in large enough numbers.

                                Bless ‘em all, bless ‘em all,

                                The long, and the short, and the tall . . .

And so it went.

I reckon the Australian selectors should adopt that spirit, only their line should be “Pick ‘em all, pick ‘em all”.

The thought came strongly to mind when the final Australian team for the world championships in Daegu was released this week. It was widely, and erroneously, reported that four athletes had been given the benefit of selectors’ discretion – Ryan Gregson, Lauren Boden, Henry Frayne and Robbie Crowther.

As I understand it, this is wrong, as every athlete named other than the automatic selections from the national championships are discretionary selections. So, of those added this week, Youcef Abdi, Criag Mottram, Collis Birmingham, Jeff Riseley (at 1500), were all discretionary, as were some added earlier, including Riseley (at 800), Kaila McKnight, Eloise Wellings and Ben St Lawrence (at 10,000).

The point, however, is not who was and was not discretionary, but why the selectors – and, more broadly, Athletics Australia – didn’t cast the discretionary net wider.

By my reckoning, another five athletes could have been added to the team, and three more who are already in it allowed to run their individual events, had the selectors exercised their discretionary powers fully.

All that would be required would be for the sport to decide that it will enter all the athletes allowed by the IAAF, which effectively means some of those who have achieved the minimum B-standard. The IAAF allows federations to enter one athlete who has the B-standard. A and B-standards can be mixed, provided that no more than one athlete with the lower standard is included.

If I have the figures right, that would mean Lachlan Renshaw could run the 800, Brendan Cole the 400 hurdles, Dale Stevenson could throw the shot put and Julian Wruck the discus. Zoe Buckman could run the women’s 1500.

Additionally, either national champion Steve Solomon or Commonwealth silver medallist Sean Wroe could run the individual 400, and Tamsyn Manou could run the women’s 800 (or the 400).

The last named three are already in the relay squads in any case, lest there be any notion that we are opening the floodgates here.

Nor, in a team which numbers 47 now, would an increase to 52 be excessive – an increment of just over 10 percent, yes, perhaps requiring one or two more staff as well – but incremental, not exponential.

For what it’s worth, too, the extra athletes who could be added to the team are about the same mix of potential and experience of those who in fact were added. No glaring anomalies there, then.

I’ve written recently about how the opportunities to achieve the A-standards in middle and long-distance races are declining rapidly. Likewise, when we’re talking 8.20 and 6.75 for male and female long jumpers, 17.20 for men’s triple jump, 8200 and 6150 points, respectively, in the decathlon and heptathlon, the opportunities are limited.

All the more reason why we should pick as many athletes as the rules allow. The standards aren’t easy; no-one, not a high performance director, not a sports department bureaucrat, not a fan in a tipping contest, can predict the outcome for individual athletes with certainty, there is a reasonable amount of evidence suggesting the best results are obtained when we give the maximum number of athletes the opportunity to compete.

For all those reasons we should be picking as many as we can.

Then there’s less tangible reasons such as encouraging athletes by rewarding effort and achievement with selection. And picking every athlete you can also sends a message to those trying that there is a reward for ambition. If you go years and years without picking any shot putters, say, you’re hardly likely to encourage people to do the shot put.

Australia is doing a good job with selection generally and there are good, committed people on the panel – have been for years. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be better, however.

Whenever selection is discussed, the example of the US comes up. People visit various interpretations onto the US policy of first three across the line. Some say it’s the toughest in the world, which it is if you’re one of the favourites who misses out. Others point out that it’s only tough in events such as the sprints, where there is such a high number of qualified athletes.

All can agree one thing: whatever the championship, wherever the championship, the US policy guarantees selection and guarantees the maximum number allowed will be selected.

Pick ‘em all, the long, and the short, and the tall. Sounds like a good idea.

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Hey RT readers,

 

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Johnny Rayner and I’m a 20 year old 800m runner from Victoria. In my first blog for runnerstribe I would like to let you in on the last few years or so of my sporting life that ultimately forced track and field to be my sport of choice. 

 

From a young age I have been heavily involved in both athletics and footy (AFL for all those up north). When I got to my mid teens I was fortunate enough to have won an U17 National 800m title and a National title while playing for Vic Metro. It soon became apparent though that I would not be able to continue juggling both sports if I was to make it to a high level in either. At the time footy was my first love so I decided to give it a 2 year crack, which would bring me to the end of my participation in the TAC cup under 18 competition. I made a promise to myself that if I was not drafted by an AFL club within these 2 years I would return to athletics. In the first of the 2 years I played ok, as a bottom ager, but sustained a stress fracture in my back which put me out for the year. Even so, I was receiving interview calls from AFL clubs and the prospect of being drafted was becoming more likely. As it turned out I was not selected in the 2008 draft on the basis of concern for the injury cloud that was over my head. This did not faze me however as I still had another year to be selected and the positive hype that surrounded me as a bottom ager would surely carry through to the next year. How wrong I was. In 2009 I played the best footy of my life, averaging 25 disposals in a team that really struggled. On stats alone I was ranked very highly in the competition, as a midfielder, yet I did not get the interview requests from AFL clubs that I got the previous year. Before the 2009 draft, I participated in the Victorian equivalent of the Draft camp in Canberra. At this camp, my results placed me as one of the top athletic players in the competition yet still there was no attention from the AFL recruiters. As draft day approached I became less and less expectant of being selected even though I had ‘ticked all the boxes’. When draft day came and went – and my name wasn’t called out – I was confused and somewhat angry as to why other players were selected and I was not. All hope was not lost however as I had secured a spot to do some pre-season training at St. Kilda FC before the rookie draft. This turned out to be a great experience but did not end up getting me selected (perhaps a good thing after all the turmoil that footy club has faced over the last few years). 

 

At this stage, my 2 years of trying to manufacture an AFL career were up. I had numerous offers to play VFL football and many more people saying “Johnny, stick at it...you will make it if you persist” but I stuck to the promise I made myself 2 years prior and returned to athletics – a decision that payed off very quickly.

 

This brings us to December of 2009. I spoke with my coach of 10 years, Gregor Gojrzeweski, and we realised the fact that I just did not have the time to gain the fitness required for my pet event, the 800m, by junior nationals in March. On the basis of this, we decided to pursue the 400m for a year with the ultimate goal of returning to the 800m the following year. After 4 months of 400m training nationals came around. I had not competed in any serious athletic competitions for 3 years now but the scene was still very familiar from all those years ago at Sydney Olympic Park. I drew an exceptionally tough heat and was forced to run a massive PB of 48.2 to place 4^th which just got me into the final. In the final a few days later I ended up coming 4^th which secured me a spot to represent Australia in the 4x400m in Canada at the 2010 World Junior Championships. This came as a massive surprise to me after only 4 months of solid training. 

 

The lead up to Canada was tough. Sprint training in the Melbourne winter is not fun and on top of this my coach needed to head overseas for a large chunk of our preparation stage. The trip to Canada was an awesome experience. It was fantastic to see how a competition is run at a IAAF world level. It was a shame however that I tore my hamstring in a time trial only 5 days out from the main competition. I tried all I could to get up and run but in the end it was better for both my team and I that I did not take my place on the start line. Watching the boys race was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life but it is now a memory that I use to motivate myself to get to that level once again. 

 

After returning back to Melbourne it took around 2 months off for my hamstring to fully recover.  I could finally begin somewhat of a winter preparation in September 2010.

In my next blog for runnerstribe I will give an outline of how my season 2010/11 unfolded as I tried to return to the 800m after a 5 year hiatus from the event.

 

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my new sponsors SiS and Runner’s Tribe.

 

Till next time

 

Johnny 

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The coming fortnight is shaping up as one of the biggest in Australian athletics this year, with more than 30 athletes competing at 14 meets in 11 countries.


Opening the green and gold account internationally are Lachlan Renshaw and Craig Mottram, with the duo set to compete at the Meeting Stanislas in Nancy (FRA) this Friday. Renshaw will for the third time this year face off with world record holder David Rudisha (KEN) in the 800m, while Mottram's 1500m start is his first in Europe this year.


The Gold Coast Athletics Centre will this weekend host the last of four Winter Series meets. Attracting a bounty of Australian track and field talent, the start list on Saturday includes five athletes selected to compete at the IAAF world championships later this year.


On Sunday, dual Olympic medallist Jared Tallent will start in a 50km road walk as his wife Claire Tallent competes across 20km at Round 8 of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Dublin (IRE).


World and world indoor championships bronze medallist Mitchell Watt rounds out the list of Australian starters overseas in the coming two weeks. He will take to the runway in Germany on July 2 before establishing a European base in Cologne (GER) with his coach Gary Bourne and training squad.


*Italics denotes athletes already selected for the IAAF world championships


June 24: Meeting Stanislas – Nancy, FRA

800m: Lachlan Renshaw (24, NSW)

1500m: Craig Mottram (31, Vic)


June 25: Golden Pole International – Busan, KOR

Pole vault: Liz Parnov (17, WA)


June 25: 57th Janusz Kusocinski Memorial – Sczcesin, POL

1500m: Jeremy Roff (27, NSW), Mark Fountain (29, Vic)

Discus throw: Benn Harradine (28, Vic)


June 25: Cottbus International – Cottbus, GER

Javelin: Kim Mickle (26, WA)

3000m steeplechase: Youcef Abdi (32, NSW)


June 25: Gold Coast Winter Series Meet #4 – Gold Coast, QLD

100m: Laura Whaler (23, NSW), Charlotte Van Veenendaal (22. Qld)

200m: Sean Wroe (26, Vic)

M 400m: Steven Solomon (18, NSW), Tristan Thomas (25, ACT), Joel Milburn (25, NSW),

Nick Boylett (24, Qld)

W 400m: Jody Henry (26, WA), Anneliese Rubie (20, NSW)

100m hurdles: Sally Pearson (24, Qld)

Long jump: Robbie Crowther (23, ACT)


June 26: IAAF Race Walking Challenge – Dublin, IRE

20km walk: Claire Tallent (29, ACT)

50km walk: Jared Tallent (26, ACT)


June 26: B.A.A 10-kay – Boston, USA

10km: Benita Willis (33, Vic), Shawn Forrest (27, Vic)


June 28: Sollentuna Grand Prix – Sollentuna, SWE

800m: Ryan Gregson (21, NSW)

1500m: Zoe Buckman (22, ACT), Collis Birmingham (25, Vic)


June 30: Bauhaus Junioren-Gala – Mannheim, GER

400m: Alexander Beck (19, Qld)

800m: Eliza Curnow (19, Vic), Kuey Diew (18, Qld)

1500m: Jordan Williamsz (18, Vic)

High jump: Brandon Starc (17, NSW)

Long jump: Brooke Stratton (17, Vic), Tim McGuire (19, SA)

Pole vault: Liz Parnov (17, WA)

Shot put: Damien Birkinhead (18, Vic), Liam Speers (19, NSW)

Discus throw: Taryn Gollshewsky (18, Qld), Liam Speers (19, NSW)

June 30: IAAF Diamond League – Lausanne, SUI

100m hurdles: Sally Pearson (24, Qld)


July 2: Meeting International – Sotteville les Rouen, FRA

1500m: Jeremy Roff (27, NSW)

Triple jump: Henry Frayne (21, Qld)


July 2: 60th Cork City Sports – Cork, IRL

1500m: Zoe Buckman (22, ACT), James Kaan (20, NSW)

3000m: David McNeill (24, Vic)


July 2: Bad Langensalza Long Jump Meet – Bad Langensalza, GER

Long jump: Mitchell Watt (23, Qld)


July 3: Gold Coast Marathon – Gold Coast, QLD

Half marathon: Lara Tamsett (22, NSW), Nikki Chapple (30, Vic)

ENDS

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Hi all

Firstly I would like to thank Runnerstribe for the opportunity to contribute to the site. Since the trip to Spain for the World cross and the brief period of track training I had I’ve just been keeping the training consistent and building on my base work. I haven’t really done much else in terms of my running, now I’m almost at the end of the semester for uni, I’m having to spend a lot of time studying for my exams. It makes it hard to try and combine everything, but once you get the hang of it it gets a bit easier.


 
World Cross Country was an awesome experience, from when we arrived right up until we left I really enjoyed my time over there. Travelling there was tiring, and it seemed like we were going everywhere but where we needed to be, I flew over to Singapore then on to London, from there we went to Madrid, to Seville and then to Punta Umbria by bus (not to mention missing the flight from Madrid to Seville) we were travelling for something like almost 2 days. In the week leading up to the race all I did was easy running, apart from a light fartlek session on the course a couple of days out. When I was running around I new it would be a brilliant race, I loved the course and I was much more calm and approached it with more of a level head this year after having the experience of last years competition. It was surprising because I managed to acclimatise and rid myself of any jet lag really quickly once I was there, and got decent sleep all week long, even the night before the race. On race day my nerves were more excitement and anticipation rather than worry, I couldn’t wait to get out and see what I could do.

 

All they had for us to warm up on was a small football field, there wasn’t much room and there were quite a few people jogging around at the same time, we all did our own thing with the warm ups and it didn’t take me long to get in the zone and focus my energy. Once we actually got out to the start line I found that I was much more relaxed than the previous year as well, starting at the back of our gate didn’t phase me either – it was more of a blessing because I was forced to stop myself going out too hard, which is a massive killer. After the first lap I went through in 48^th, and I started to work my way up, eventually getting myself to 40^th the following lap which is pretty much where I stayed for the rest of the race. It was a tough course, the hills weren’t huge but they really take it out of you, especially when they are in quick succession. I finished quite strong as well just edging Glen Yarham, although just getting caught on the line by Brit Jonny Hay. At the end of it all I was stoked with my run, 40^th place and a huge improvement from last years finish of 83^rd.

 

Since finishing the domestic track season in Melbourne for the nationals, I’ve mainly just been running, with a few hit outs here and there, like the HBF run for a reason and the state short course cross country. Leonora looks good for the coming weekend, and there isn’t much after that before the national championships in Canberra which should shape up to be a really good competition.

 

Thanks,

Ethan

The Runner's Tribe and Kind Eagle Partnership Brings Running News To The iPhone With TrackGeek 2010

 Mobile access to the latest running news, results, photos and video 

 Eugene, OR, USA — 18 December, 2009 — The Runner's Tribe and Kind Eagle today announce an agreement to distribute content from The Runner's Tribe on the iPhone application, TrackGeek 2010.

TrackGeek 2010 is the first iPhone application dedicated to running/athletics news.  The partnership allows TrackGeek 2010 to display The Runner's Tribe links, stories, photos and videos, within the iPhone application. The application is set to be launched from the Apple iTunes store in late 2009.

"I am very excited and proud to be partnering with The Runner's Tribe to offer their great content to the users of TrackGeek 2010," said Jim McDannald, founder of Kind Eagle.  "Sam, Ross and The Runner's Tribe team have been instrumental in bringing running/athletics into the internet age.  From exclusive athlete blogs and great video interviews, The Runner's Tribe is Australia's source for running/athletics."

"The Runner's Tribe is an ideal partner for TrackGeek 2010.  We each share a passion for all things running.  Through this partnership, we hope to promote the sport we love and make it more accessible to fans and athletes alike." 

The Runner’s Tribe:  "The RT team is stoked to be partnering with TrackGeek 2010. Jim has developed a great application that will make it easy to tune into your favourite running websites from your iphone, it serves as an invaluable tool for us and helps us to stay at the forefront of advances in media technology”

Kind Eagle

Kind Eagle, LLC, based in Eugene, OR, is a technology startup focused on connecting people to their favorite athletes and sports.  Kind Eagle is involved with both mobile, TrackGeek 2010 www.trackgeek.com, and web development, MVTweet.com, www.mvtweet.com. 

The Runner's Tribe

The Runner's Tribe is an online running/track n field media website, sponsored by New Balance, with regularly updated news, articles, athlete blogs, interviews, photos and videos. Its aim is to boost the profile of Australian and New Zealand Athletics whilst providing entertaining content for a truly global audience.

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