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Thomas and Birmingham shine at season opener
Tasmanian 400m hurdler Tristan Thomas has continued his purple patch at the Briggs Athletics Classic in Hobart tonight, running the fastest time of his career and posting his second world championships ‘B’ qualifier in the process.
The night concluded on a high note with Victoria’s Collis Birmingham running a top-class 5000m to record his first world championships ‘B’ qualifier and his third successive meet title.
The enthusiastic crowd at the Domain Athletics Centre also witnessed encouraging early season performances from Beijing Olympians Sean Wroe (200m – 21.13), Madeleine Pape (800m – 2:07.53), Jeff Riseley (1500m – 3:40.79) and Lisa Corrigan (1500m – 4:11.11), whilst sprinter Anthony Alozie ran a swift 10.29 (1.0) in the men’s blue-riband 100m.
In the first major meeting of the 2009 Australia season, Thomas ran an impressive one-lap race right up until the final hurdle, the 22-year old smashing the barrier, causing him to stumble before powering to the finish line in 49.61.
The result was another confidence boosting performance for Thomas who has been in good form this season, breaking the Tasmanian 400m flat record in Canberra and taking out the 800m at the Zatopek – three personal bests over three events, in less than seven weeks.
It was also the second time Thomas has broken his personal best in the 400m hurdles this week, after another quality run at an intra-club meet in Canberra on Tuesday night.
Although he may have just missed the A qualifier of 49.25 on this occasion, the much sought after mark is just around the corner.
“All I need is a good clean race, and the A could happen,” said Thomas who is now based at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
“I’m very happy it’s all starting to come together and it’s good to have a PB on my home track.
“It’s exciting that finally after so many years (of injury) I’m able to put my training into practise and get some runs on the board.”
Birmingham’s victory tonight completed a hat trick of victories for the Victorian in the 5000m at the Briggs Athletics Classic. Dictating the final laps of the race, the 24-year-old crossed the finish line more than ten seconds ahead of Queensland’s Michael Shelley to win in 13:27.25.
“I’ve come down here for the last three years and it’s the fastest time I’ve done,” Birmingham said.
“I was really happy with my finish. I went with three laps to go and threw in a couple of 59 second laps.
“At the Olympics last year I couldn’t really do that at the end of the race and hopefully that’s one thing I have improved on and can now make it though the heats at a major championship.
“My coach Nic Bideau has always said it’s an accumulative thing, training on top of training and I’m starting to reap the benefits now.”
Birmingham will now head to Canberra next Sunday (February 8) for the World Cross Country trials before tackling the 5000m national championship at the World Athletics Tour – Melbourne on March 5.
Beijing 400m runner Sean Wroe eclipsed his 200m personal best by two hundredths of a second to steal victory away from renowned sprinters Ray Williams and Jacob Growth in 21.13. The Victorian has been working on his speed over 100m and 200m of late and will return to his pet 400m at the later stages of the domestic season.
Nigerian-born Anthony Alozie, who received Australian citizenship in November, clocked 10.29 (1.0) to defeat Joshua Ross (10.43) and Aaron Rouge-Serret (10.46) in the men’s 100m.
Alozie is the in-form sprinter of the nation at this early stage of the season, after running a wind-assisted 10.16 in Canberra two weeks ago.
Victorian Olympian Madeleine Pape seems to have the upperhand over her frustrating run of foot and leg injuries, coming home strong to win the women’s 800m in 2:07.53. Pape was content on sitting midfield until making her move at the top of the back straight on the final lap. Her class shone through from there, as she put a gap on the field who fought it out closely for the minor places.
In other results, Victorian Alwyn Jones (16.45m) conquered in the triple jump, Petrina Price (1.86m) of New South Wales took out the women’s high jump and Victorian Gabrielle Neighbour threw 61.88m in the women’s hammer.
The next major athletics meeting will be the Australia Cup in Brisbane next Saturday (February 7).
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