Lewis and Shirvington added to World Championships team

Experienced campaigners Tamsyn Lewis and Matt Shirvington are the latest additions to the Australian team for the 11th IAAF World Championships which kick off in Osaka, Japan in 39 days time.

Australia will send a team of 43 athletes to the world titles which commence on August 25, headlined by 2003 world 400m hurdles champion Jana Rawlinson and 2005 World Championships bronze medallist Craig Mottram.

Additions today include confirmation of the men’s and women’s 4 x 100m relay teams, along with the inclusion of Tamsyn Lewis in the 800m.

Selected in the 4 x 100m relay team, Shirvington will be joined by four-time national champion Joshua Ross (NSW), Olympian Adam Miller (AIS), World Junior Championships semi-finalist Aaron Rouge-Serret (VIC) and Commonwealth Games relay bronze medallist Tim Williams (VIC).

After producing a surprise World Championships qualifier in May - the fastest time by an Australian team (43.62 seconds) since 2000 - our women’s 4 x 100m relay team has also been finalised. 

Three-time Australian sprint champion Sally McLellan (QLD) will be joined by fellow Commonwealth Games relay bronze medallist Crystal Attenborough (NT), hurdles specialist Fiona Cullen (QLD), 23 year-old New South Wales athlete Preya Carey and Tasmanian primary school teacher Melissa Kay.

The men’s 4 x 400m relay team will be finalised at the conclusion of next month’s training camp in Bangkok.

For Lewis, who turns 29 on Friday, today’s announcement is an early present.

With a victory at this year’s national titles and a collection of 800m B-qualifiers under her belt, Lewis headed to Europe endeavouring to post that elusive 800m A-qualifier of two-minutes flat. At the IAAF World Tour meeting in Athens (July 2), Lewis recorded an impressive 1:59.45 – the 13th fastest in the world this year and her fastest time since 2003.

Lewis made her World Championships debut in Seville in 1999 as a 21-year-old. Finishing sixth in her 800m heat (2:03.03), unfortunately she was a first-round casualty. Since then, she has made two appearances at the world titles in 2001 and 2003, finishing seventh (2:03.16) and eighth (2:05.11) in the semi-finals of the 800m respectively.

An under-prepared Shirvington decided to bypass the 2007 Australian domestic season, preferring to return to his training base in England with his wife Jessica and nine-month old daughter Sienna.

The former Australian 100m record holder clocked 10.28 seconds in Salamanca in June; a B-qualifier and his quickest 100m time in 18 months.

The five-time national title-holder is no stranger to the international athletics scene, with appearances at the Olympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Representing the green and gold in the last four editions of the world titles, Shirvington's best result was in Edmonton in 2001, where he finished seventh in the semi-final of the 100m and helped the 4 x 100m relay team to a surprise fourth placing; later to be upgraded to a bronze medal after the disqualification of Tim Montgomery (doping offence) and the US team.

Athletics Australia's Chairman of Selectors Peter Fitzgerald said that positions in the Australian team were still open.

“We have made these selections now to provide the athletes with as much lead-in time as possible to the World Championships in Osaka.

“Further additions to the World Championships team are possible up until August 12 and selectors will be keeping a close eye on performances in Europe and Australia over the next few weeks.”

TELSTRA AUSTRALIAN ATHLETICS SQUAD
11TH IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
OSAKA, JAPAN
AUGUST 25 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2007

MEN
100m  Joshua Ross (NSW)
200m  Patrick Johnson (AIS), Joshua Ross (NSW)
400m  John Steffensen (WA), Sean Wroe (VIC)
1500m  Mark Fountain (VIC)
1500m wheelchair Kurt Fearnley (NSW)
5000m  Craig Mottram (VIC)
3000m steeple chase  Youcef Abdi (NSW)
Pole vault  Paul Burgess (WA), Steven Hooker (WA)
Shot put  Scott Martin (VIC)
Javelin  Jarrod Bannister (QLD)
20km walk  Luke Adams (AIS), Nathan Deakes (ACT), Jared Tallent (AIS)
50km walk  Duane Cousins (VIC), Nathan Deakes (AIS), Chris Erickson (VIC)
4 x 100m relay squad Adam Miller (AIS), Joshua Ross (NSW), Aaron Rouge-Serret (VIC), Matt Shirvington (NSW), Tim Williams (VIC)
4 x 400m relay squad*  Dylan Grant (QLD), Clinton Hill (AIS), Kurt Mulcahy (NSW), Mark Ormrod (AIS), John Steffensen (WA), Sean Wroe (VIC)

WOMEN
100m  Sally McLellan (QLD)
800m  Tamsyn Lewis (VIC)
1500m  Lisa Corrigan (ACT), Sarah Jamieson (VIC)
5000m  Eloise Wellings (NSW)
10,000m  Benita Johnson (VIC)
100mH  Sally McLellan (QLD)
400mH  Jana Rawlinson (NSW)
3000m steeple chase  Donna MacFarlane (TAS), Victoria Mitchell (VIC)
Pole vault  Alana Boyd (QLD), Kym Howe (WA)
Long jump  Bronwyn Thompson (QLD)
Discus  Dani Samuels (NSW)
Heptathlon  Kylie Wheeler (WA)
20km walk  Jane Saville (NSW)
4 x 100m relay squad  Sally McLellan (QLD), Crystal Attenborough (NT), Fiona Cullen (QLD), Preya Carey (NSW), Melissa Kay (TAS) 

* Final team (maximum of six athletes per relay) to be confirmed prior to close of IAAF entries on August 12