12.07.2009

Neville, Rowe go top-eight at world youth titles

High jumper Andrew Neville and 800m runner Alex Rowe have added another two top-eight finishes to Australia’s tally on day four of the world youth championships in Bressanone, Italy.

Neville posted a second personal best in three days to clear 2.13m and claim sixth place in the high jump while Rowe stopped the clock at 1:52.13 to take out fifth in the 800m.

The pair joins high jumper Amy Pejkovic (silver), hammer thrower Huw Peacock (fifth), discus specialist Liam Speers (eighth) and race walker Dane Bird-Smith (eighth) as top-eight finishers at the meet at the conclusion of day four.

Entering the meet with a personal best mark of 2.07m, Neville cleared 2.10m in Thursday's qualifying round then added another three centimetres to his lifetime best on his second attempt at 2.13m in today’s decider.

“I’m pretty happy, it feels really good to have jumped a six centimetre PB and 2.13m is a new record at my school so it’s great,” Neville said.

Israeli athlete Dmitriy Kroyter took out the event, nailing his first attempt at 2.20m to claim the gold medal. 

“That guy’s crazy, it was so much harder out there this afternoon,” Neville said.

At the conclusion of his world youth campaign, the New South Wales athlete said he hoped this was just the start of his international athletics career.

“It’s been one of the best experiences of my life, hopefully I’ll get to juniors next year and just keep going,” Neville said.

Alexander Rowe was just as impressive in the final of the 800m, taking it right up to the field over the two-lap course.

The leaders again took off at lightning speed at the gun, moving through the first 200m in close to 25.0 before settling into the race. 

A tight pack nearing the second bend saw athletes stumble at the turn, Rowe staying strong to assert a good position in the group.

Taken through the halfway mark in 54.82 Rowe was right on pace, holding a steady speed to move into fourth at the 500m-mark as the pack continued to surge.

“It’s what I’ve been building up to for a very long time, I feel really good and I thought I ran a very smart race,” Rowe said.

“They went out in 25.0 again and I probably went through 26-mid so I ran my own race, got into the perfect position and they were just a bit too strong but there was only five metres in it so there’s not much but still improvement to be made for future years.”

Rowe was unfazed by the field, sticking tight to his game plan from start to finish while the pack surged around him.

“I found that I ran mostly an even pace throughout the race while they kept slowing down and speeding up,” he said.

“With about 300m to go I started to build up the momentum a little bit and they were slowing down so that made it look like I was kicking hard but I got myself in the right position and ran a good race.

“It was hectic coming down the home straight, I thought I might be a chance but they already had that five-metre gap that I just couldn’t get back.

“In the end I’m fifth in the world and l’m very happy.”

Rowe said the world youth experience had given him an invaluable insight into international racing.

“The best thing I’ve learned from this is that it’s just another race, the nerves before this race were just the same for an inter-club race or a school race, so it’s really pleasing to know nothing changes, wherever you are around the world it’s still always the same and it’s good to know I can reproduce my best anywhere in the world when I need to.”

Also in finals action on day four was Taryn Gollshewsky, who placed twelfth in the final of the discus throw.

Kicking off her campaign with a throw of 43.23m, Gollshewsky went on to record distances of 43.84m and 40.56m to fall just short of the distance required to contest the final three rounds of competition.

“It just wasn’t my afternoon, I felt good but it just didn’t come out,” Gollshewsky said.

“There were some big throws out there but I should have made top eight, there’s no doubt about it, I could have been up there.

“It will be good to get back home now and to get back into training.”

For all the latest action from the world youth titles, click here.