20.12.2007

Walk this way...to Beijing

As a result of their outstanding efforts at the Australian 50km Road Walking Championships on the weekend, Jared Tallent and Adam Rutter have been chosen for nomination to the Australian Olympic Committee for selection into the Australian team for the 2008 Olympic Games.
 
The Australian Institute of Sport duo will make their Olympic debut and will join Nathan Deakes, who has already been chosen for nomination for the 50km walk event courtesy of his stellar gold medal winning performance at the World Championships in Osaka earlier this year.
 
“It’s always much easier for selectors when athletes pick themselves as a result of their performances in the trial,” explained Athletics Australia’s chairman of selectors Peter Fitzgerald.
 
“Deakes earned the right to early nomination after capturing his first world title in Osaka, Tallent will be nominated by right of performance after Sunday’s effort at the Australian Championships and Adam Rutter has made a significant step forward from the junior ranks and earned his place.“
 
For Deakes, Beijing will be an opportunity to make amends after the disappointment of being disqualified over 50km in Athens 2004, when he was in a break-away with the eventual winner, Poland’s wizard of the walk Robert Korzeniowski.
 
Tallent, 23, secured automatic nomination after taking out the national title in an A-qualifier of 3:44:45. Smashing his personal best by more than 10 minutes, the Ballarat athlete produced the third-fastest time ever by an Australian to reserve his spot in the team. The winning time was the 11th fastest in the world this year and is a strong indicator of his potential at next year’s Olympic Games.
 
A bronze medallist over 20km at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Tallent missed selection for the 50km event in Osaka and was disqualified in the 20km when sitting in the top six with 5km remaining.
 
The selectors used their discretion to nominate Rutter, who made his debut over the gruelling 50km distance on Sunday. Impressing the selection committee, the 20 year-old from Sydney crossed the line in second place, easily going under the A-qualifying time by more than seven minutes in 3:52:49.
 
Rutter, an Australian representative at World Youth, World Junior and World Race Walking Cup level, only made the decision to focus on the long walk in May.
 
Coached by former Australian representative Brent Vallance, both Tallent and Rutter will have a short break before contesting the Australian 20km Road Walking Championships, which also double as the selection trials, on Saturday, February 23, 2008.
 
“The walks will be one of our strongest events at the Olympic Games,“ continued Fitzgerald.
 
“With Luke Adams already nominated to contest the 20km walk in Beijing, and two more set to join him after the trials in February, we have a lot of potential.”
 
To date, seven Australian athletes have been chosen for Olympic nomination; Jana Rawlinson (400m hurdles), Nathan Deakes (50km walk), Craig Mottram (5000m), Steve Hooker (pole vault), Luke Adams (20km walk), Jared Tallent (50km walk) and Adam Rutter (50km walk).
 
All of these athletes will be nominated to the Australia Olympic Committee on July 4, 2008 along with any other athletes chosen according to the terms of Athletics Australia's nomination policy between now and that date. Nomination to the AOC is conditional on all athletes meeting their ongoing responsibilities under the nomination criteria.