Zatopek 2008

Zatopek 08

Edward Ovadia

Email: edwardovadia [at] gmail.com

Watch all the Zatopek videos here

This year's Zatopek meet saw one of the most promising starts to the track season we have seen in a long time.

The men's 10000m race was one of the highest quality fields, at the front, that the Zatopek meet has seen in a while. In the end a blistering final lap from David McNeill was enough to take it out in 28:03, with American Bobby Curtin is 28:06, Michael Shelley in 28:08, and Collis Birmingham in 28:21. This means that now three Aussies have the B qualifier over 10000m, and are all in a position to threaten for the A. It also means that we have a quality selection of elite runners now potentially capable of running sub 28 minutes; and given some of the names who didn't compete in Zatopek this year (Mottram, Abdi, Dent, St. Lawrence, Rowe), the ranks of male long distance running are looking much healthier than they did several years ago. The question is now who of this group can make the transition from sub-international level to international level, and consistently threaten the A qualifying mark over whichever distance.

The women's 10000m, on the other hand, was the Lara Tamsett show. In her 10000m track debut, Lara ran 32:56, on her own for nearly all the race, and lapping the entire rest of the field at least once. This is on the back of a Noose 5km Bolt win (beating Benita Johnson) and a successful leg at the Chiba Ekiden relay in Japan. Lara will be huge over the next few years. Will Berlin 2009 be too soon? Depends on how encouraging selectors are in their choices this year. If they choose to give some valuable international experience to a hugely promising 20 year old and consider Lara with a B qualifier, there's a huge chance that Lara could reach the B time of 32:20 in a higher quality race with pressure all the way. The A qualifier may be a little tougher, at 31:45, but she may come close mid next year, were that the goal.

The men's 800m saw a very exciting run by usually-400m hurdler Tristan Thomas, who won in 1:47.83. Reports have the halfway split at 53:67, which would indicate a negative split. This means that, right now, with better pacing Tristan may well have been able to run 1:46 - an amazing feat this early in the season, and in such a new event.

The men's 1500m also saw some good early season form from both Jeff Riseley and Jeremy Roff. Riseley won in 3:39 from Roff in 3:40, and it will be fascinating to see how the 1500m develops over the season. Also a great run by junior Craig Huffer to run 3:42, who showed that Gregson will not have it all his own way in the junior ranks this year.

Tamsyn Lewis also made a solid start to the season with a quick 400m clocking of 52:57, showing she is ready to make the most of this next season, and is in already reasonable shape.

Unfortunately, especially in the longer races like 5000m and 10000m, there are almost no opportunities to run a qualifier in Australia (outside of the Melbourne 5000m for men). Even the 1500m takes some getting right. So it may well come down to who can make the trip to America in April or Europe in May/June/July. The few extra months of training can also make that crucial difference, as Collis Birmingham showed last year. It has to be about having the most opportunities to race the distance. The more real chances there are, the more chance of qualifying.

Watch all the Zatopek videos here

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