Interviews continued

 Lachlan Renshaw: Monday, June 30, 2008
At this year's World Athletics Tour meet in Melbourne a bomb was dropped by twenty year old Sydney-sider, Lachlan Renshaw. Renshaw won the 800m race in emphatic fashion in a time of 1:45.79. The time was a huge personal best and more importantly, an Olympic A qualifier. Renshaw thus catapulted himself into the spotlight as Australia's most promising 800m talent since the likes of Grant Cremer and Kris McCarthy...

It's not everyday that you get the opportunity to catch up with a man who has not only achieved some speedy times on the track, but also experienced life inside collegiate America from two different perspectives, as athlete as well as coach. Melbourne born middle distance runner, Mike Power moved to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas in January 1996 as the fastest miler of the freshman class (3:58.03). However, with the big move from Australia to the United States came many problems and adjustments.


Donna MacFarlane has seen it all: the high of a Bronze medal at her home Commonwealth Games, the low of losing her shoe in the first round of the World Championships, and the joys of motherhood. In a little under three months, Donna will lead the Australian charge at the Beijing Olympic Games where she will compete in her pet event, the 3000m steeplechase, and if past form is anything to go by, she may just come home with some extra luggage. Donna currently has run the fastest time in the world this year (9:29.93).



3:33 1500m man, Mark Fountain, is one of Australia?s fastest ever 1500m runners. Currently based in Arkansas, in the USA, Mark has had an impressive career which culminated in him winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 1500m in Melbourne. Although not as well known, Mark has a better personal best than Craig Mottram over 1500m. We catch up with Mark as he prepares for his assault on a Beijing qualifying standard.



It took only 8 minutes and 1 second for Ryan Gregson to go from being a solid young distance runner; to the best junior 3000m runner this country has ever seen. Since breaking that record of Craig Mottram's, Gregson has gone on to compete at the World Youth Championships, finishing 5th in the 1500m final, the World Junior XC Championships in Edinburgh, and finished his track season with the Australian u/18 1500m (3:43) and 5000m (14:14) records, just for good measure.




Sarah Jamieson is arguably Australia's best ever female 1500m runner. Sarah is the current Australian record holder over 1500m (4:00.93) and ended 2007 ranked 7th in the world. Sarah's story is one of resilience, toughness and hard work: After much success as a junior she was injured between 1994 and 1998 and had a total of five surgeries on her legs.




Chris de Boer (CDB) burst onto the scene in late 2007- early 2008, winning the Ron Clarke Classic 800m (1:51.3) and the Zatopek classic (1:48.89). He also placed 4th in the Sydney track classic (1.48.78), and 3rd in the Canberra Grand Prix ( 1.48.26 ). Chris finished the year ranked 6th for the 800m and stands as being perhaps the biggest improver on the domestic scene, he ran a total of 9 straight personal bests. Furthermore, his PB for the 800m fell from 1:53 to 1:48.26 and his PB for the 1500m fell from 3:58 to 3.47.