11.05.2007

Sally seeks consistency in Doha

Fresh from a stunning Australian record and fastest time in the world this year, Gold Coast sprint star Sally McLellan will be aiming for consistency when she lines up in the 100m hurdles at the IAAF World Tour meeting in Doha, Qatar on Friday.

The 2007 Qatar Grand Prix is one of the biggest one-day athletics meets outside Europe, has US$600,000 in prize money on offer and has attracted 11 current Olympic or world champions.

Last Saturday in Osaka, the venue for this year’s IAAF World Championships, McLellan, 20, shredded her own Australian record to clock 12.71 secs in clinching her first IAAF World Tour win.

McLellan will once again meet Americans Lolo Jones and Danielle Carruthers, who filled the placings in Osaka, along with a trio of consistently brilliant Jamaicans, including Commonwealth Games gold medallist Brigitte Foster-Hylton and bronze medallist Delloreen Ennis-London.

After producing a new Tasmanian record over 1500m in Osaka, Donna MacFarlane returns to her preferred 3000m steeplechase in Doha where she will be joined by fellow Commonwealth Games representative Victoria Mitchell.

MacFarlane set her personal best of 9:25.05 in winning the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in a race where Mitchell finished fourth, also in a personal best of 9:34.25.

MacFarlane and Mitchell posted the eighth and 11th fastest times in the world last year so will be hard to beat in the Doha heat. British middle distance star Helen Clitheroe will be interesting to watch as she makes the transition to the barriers.

After a long run with injuries, Mitchell recently recorded a strong return to form, winning the Great Ireland Run in Dublin last month, defeating Clitheroe by 11 seconds.

Following a string of 60m efforts in the US, national discus champion Benn Harradine faces some fierce opposition in Doha, including one of the best of all time in Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna. The reigning Olympic and world champion owns the meet record of 69.47 set last year.

And Queensland pole vaulter Alana Boyd will get the chance to atone after no-heighting in Osaka last week.

Full results will be available here

Meanwhile, in other athletics news, 2003 world 400m hurdles champion Jana Rawlinson left Australia on Wednesday night as she continues her comeback to international athletics following the birth of her son Cornelis in December.  

She will have her first hit out at the European club championships in Portugal on 26 May.

Rawlinson told the Herald Sun, "I am in 80 per cent form at the moment. I am a little bit shy of racing. I could run well but I could be really held back by technique. I haven't hurdled for a year and a bit and hurdling has never really been my strong point.

"To jump straight back into full training is a lot harder than I anticipated it would be," she said. "My motivation is a lot higher than it used to be, my pain threshold is a lot higher, but my body just took time."

Two of Australia’s other world stars, long jumper Bronwyn Thompson and pole vaulter Steve Hooker are currently recovering from injuries.

Thompson, ranked No. 2 on the IAAF world rankings, underwent an arthroscopy on her knee last week and will not resume competition until at least July; however, she still has her sights set on the World Championships in Osaka.

Meanwhile world No. 1 Steve Hooker will return to training this week after resting and receiving treatment in Melbourne for a knee problem that hampered his summer season. He will head overseas for pre-World Championships competition in late June.

Listen to this week's edition of Higher, Faster, Longer here - featuring Athletics Australia's National Event Co-ordinator for sprints and relays, Paul Hallam

Keep an eye out for DVDs of the Telstra A-Series and Australian Championships - on sale at athletics.com.au from next week!