29.02.2008

Bannister launches to record, Beijing

Four athletes have all but secured their place in Australia’s 2008 Olympic team after an action-packed day two at the Selection Trials and 86th Australian Championships in Brisbane.

Jarrod Bannister (javelin), Tamsyn Lewis (400m), Kylie Wheeler (heptathlon) and Donna MacFarlane (3000m steeplechase) are Beijing bound, with Lewis in pole position to add her pet 800m event to her ticket tomorrow night.

One of the most memorable Australian men’s 100m finals also unfolded, with little-known Otis Gowa holding his own for a maiden title.

Easily the most emphatic of the key performances belonged to Queenslander Jarrod Bannister, who launched the javelin further than any Australian before him with a massive 89.02m.

Bannister, who hurled three A-qualifiers in his six efforts, smashed the record of 86.67m held by Andrew Currey since 2001.

After the ultimate throw, he raced to the fence to embrace his coach Garry Calvert before saluting the roaring stand at the Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre.

“I’ve been feeling in the last few months that there was a big throw there and for it to finally come out is just a relief,” he said. “I’ve been sort of injured the past month and I’ve been trying to deal with being injured and having a good feeling in my body that I could throw this long.

“I haven’t been able to do the training that I’ve wanted to but there’s plenty more there in the tank to go so I’m definitely confident for later on this year.

“It’s a bit of relief to be on the plane. The biggest thing now is how to mix it up with the big boys and shake them up I guess.”

Visiting American Mike Hazle was second with 81.89m with New Zealand's Stuart Farquhar third with 78.92m. World Championships representative Joshua Robinson was the next best Australian with 76.00m.

Tamsyn Lewis needed an A-qualifier and national title No. 4 to capture her spot in the women’s 400m. She produced both of those and a personal best with a scorching 51.44 run, her fastest since the Sydney Olympic year of 2000.

It’s been a big week for the Victorian, whose first A-qualifier over 400m came at the World Athletics Tour meet in Melbourne last Thursday and she is now in a strong position to run the double in Beijing.

“I am just over the moon,” she gushed. “It’s been such a long road. I owe everything to my brother. He’s brilliant.

“I always run my best eights when I’m running PB fours. And you’ve got to run rounds in Olympics. Three rounds of the eight is tough, so why not practise it here.”

Earlier in the day, Lewis made a clinical progression (2:08.91) to the 800m final which will be contested on Saturday night. Pushing for her ninth crown over the distance, the 29 year-old feels she has managed the load of running both events.

“We’re athletes, we race and I train harder than this,” she said. “I want to compete at the Olympics in both (so I have to race).”

Madeleine Pape (2:10.68), Lewis’ biggest threat, won her heat ahead of Trychelle Kingdom, a bright young talent.

Western Australia’s Kylie Wheeler is assured of her second Olympics after winning a record sixth national heptathlon title with an A-qualifying score of 6087 points.

Wheeler, who finished 18th at Athens 2004, won her final event - the 800m - in a season’s best time to conclude a solid couple of days.

“It’s been good,” she said. “I was hoping for a couple of performances that might have been better just for confidence, but nothing was bad so I can’t complain really.”

The 27 year-old plans for most of her Beijing preparations to take place at home before seeking competition in individual events abroad.

Tasmania’s Donna MacFarlane surprised no-one in dominating the women’s 3000m steeplechase, winning in yet another A-qualifying time of 9:36.09. Australian record holder Melissa Rollison (9:50.59), on the return from serious injury, finished second with World Championships representative Victoria Mitchell third (10:03.35).

The unassuming mother of two was simply pleased that her place had been confirmed.

“It is a relief I think,” she said. “I felt a lot better running last week. I was expecting to post a faster time than that but with all of the things combined, I’m just pleased to get that automatic selection.”

The evening concluded in stunning circumstances as emerging Indigenous athlete Otis Gowa (10.63 (-1.7)) won the men’s 100m final from New South Wales' Jacob Groth (10.67) and Isaac Ntiamoah (10.68), only to have the result sent to protest.

The start was initially deemed unfair, most so for decorated pair Patrick Johnson and Matt Shirvington, who looked good in their semi-final victories.

However, after two hours of deliberation by the jury of appeal, the crown was awarded to Gowa – marking an historic occasion for the Jump Start to London program of which he is a key member.

The 23 year-old, who has a personal best of 10.53, will return to the track for tomorrow afternoon’s 200m heats. He can expect a blanket of added attention - and support - after his memorable victory tonight.

Who is Otis Gowa? Read a feature written on him in October 2007

The stage is also set for a cracking men’s 400m final with all of the main players advancing to the prize race.

Again, John Steffensen was the most convincing - running a very strong 300 metres before holding out Joel Milburn (46.28) to cross the line in 45.99.

Reigning champion Sean Wroe won the first heat in a clean 46.85, clearly protecting his energy reserves for the final.

New Australian record holder Scott Martin had to settle for runner-up in the men’s shot put, pipped by big Queenslander Justin Anlezark – the man whose record he claimed in Melbourne last week.

Martin finished with 20.19m, just two centimetres shy of Anlezark, and his 2008 Olympic dream remains alive thanks to that current form.

Former world No. 1 Steve Hooker, pre-selected for Beijing in October, began his night once his competitors had finished though not all went smoothly for the vaulter.

Entering the competition at 5.55m, he cleared the height off one attempt before passing at 5.65m. But three jumps at 5.70m proved unsuccessful, with the lone clearance enough for Hooker to defend his national title.

Matt Boyd, whose father Ray won 11 national titles and sister Alana has a strong case for Olympic Games selection, set a 'house' record in clearing 5.35m. Ray's best ever jump was 5.30m.

New South Wales’ Veronique Molan was a surprise winner of the women’s 1500m championship, taking high-profile pair Georgie Clarke and Lisa Corrigan in the final stages.

Clarke pushed out to run her own race in the second lap, and looked good, but tired at the final turn to be overrun by Molan – the New South Wales State champion - and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin.

The battle of Queensland’s Mitch Kealey and New South Wales’ Bradley Woods continued in the men’s 1500m final, with the former taking the honours in a thrilling affair – 3:40.62 to 3:40.91.

The healthy rivalry of the season was squared at two apiece before tonight, with Kealey pinching the lead from Woods inside the last 70 metres.

Nick Bromley, contesting both distances, was a casualty of the double - finishing second last. Earlier in the day, however, his trademark kick sent him into the men’s 800m final in a time of 1:49.36, second to the ACT’s Toby Sutherland. He will now seek his fourth consecutive national title.

Lachlan Renshaw, the season’s best runner, is still the raging favourite while World Championships representative Jeffrey Riseley has proved he is also nearing form. Young gun James Kaan won his heat in 1:50.17 to make things a bit more interesting.

Canberra's Martin Dent (8:34.34) won an entertaining men’s 3000m steeplechase from a talented field including the winners of the last two titles – Peter Nowill (8:46.16) and Youcef Abdi (8:37.69).

Tonight, Abdi was third to Kenyan Collins Kosgei (8:35.42), who threw himself at the final dash to catch Dent but to no avail. Nowill was fourth overall, presented with the Australian bronze medal.

Australia’s best female long jumper Bronwyn Thompson (6.67m) grabbed two B-qualifiers on the way to her fifth national title, indicating that her current form is edging ahead of that which troubled her throughout most of 2007.

Fiona Cullen was a popular victor in the women’s 100m final (11.80 (-0.9)) after claiming a similar result in her semi-final. Her first national 100m title, the Queenslander has emerged as the summer’s best female sprinter in the absence of the injured Sally McLellan.

In the women's javelin throw, Victorian Kathryn Mitchell held out Western Australia's Kimberley Mickle with  B-qualifying throw of 58.77m.

Mickle, despite a foul on her first throw, looked better early but faded midway - finishing second with 55.78m.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jason Dudley pushed for his third B-qualifier of 7783, winning the decathlon from WAIS athlete Kyle Rasti (7444).

The conditions arguably worked against the big man, who battled through the 1500m after mixed results across his other nine events.

“I’m fairly happy with that but we’ll see how three Bs goes and whether it will be enough or not,” he said.

Dudley, who battled a navicular (foot) stress fracture in 2007, missed the presence of last year’s national champion Erik Surjan, absent through injury.

And flame-haired AIS athlete Tristan Thomas won his first 400m hurdles title in a time of 51.41, holding out West Australian Dane Richter (51.50).

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