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Thomas tops red hot tally
Following on from an outstanding domestic season and solid preparations in Europe, 400m hurdler Tristan Thomas has taken gold at the World University Games in Belgrade overnight.
Thomas stopped the clock more than a second faster than the rest of the field to take out the win in 48.75, a time not far off the PB he set in Osaka in May just months after going under 49.0 for the first time in his career on home soil in February.
In a highly technical event, Thomas’ confidence is growing exponentially as his times continue to improve.
Recently Thomas spoke of his frustration in the 400m hurdles event shifting to a renewed confidence and tonight he lifted to another level.
Thomas will now continue his preparations in Europe for the world championships in Berlin next month.
Teammate Brendan Cole finished fifth in the race in a time of 50.18.
ACT sprinter Melissa Breen crossed the line in 24.12 in the women’s 200m, placing her below the qualification level for the final and Sean Wroe ran 0.37 short of his season and personal best time of 21-flat but did not advance to the men's 200m final.
In the strongly contested men’s 800m event, Target 2012 member Lachlan Renshaw won his heat in 1:50.03 and remains the second fastest qualifier, convincingly advancing him to the semi-finals. The race will prove an important one for Renshaw, who is looking to feature in the final and break his PB to record a world championships A-qualifier of 1:45.40.
Fellow Target squad member Justin Merlino and teammate John Burstow followed Renshaw’s lead to automatically qualify to the semi-finals of the 110m hurdles in times of 14.05 and 14.16 respectively.
Following an inspirational performance from middle distance runner Madeleine Pape yesterday, Kaila McKnight continued her good form to automatically advance to the final of the women’s 1500m in a time of 4:15.11.
McKnight ran a smart race to finish third in the first heat, easing back after leading for the first 1000m.
Junior Zatopek winner Bridey Delaney took control of the second heat over the final lap, clocking 4:19.28 to join McKnight shortly after.
“We will have our work cut out for us with two strong representatives from Russia, who come into the final as ones to watch,” Delaney said.
With three events remaining in the heptathlon, Australians Lauren Foote and Meagan Wheatley are placed eighth and ninth respectively. Foote topped the high jump with a height of 1.82m while Wheatley threw 13.06m to sit third overall in the shot put. The heptathlon will conclude this evening.
Target 2012 squad athlete Ellen Pettitt and fellow jumper Zoe Timmers have both qualified in the women’s high jump final to be contested on Sunday. Pettitt jumped 1.85m and Timmers just five centimetres less to progress.
Amanda Bisk finished ninth in the final of the women’s pole vault, matching her PB of 4.20m achieved on the final day of the Australian championships in Brisbane in March.
In the men’s discus throw Dale Stevenson missed qualification for the final with a throw measuring 52.01m.
Liam Adams has qualified in 14:01.42 in the men’s 5000m, advancing to Sunday's final.
Jillian Hosking received a DQ in the women’s 20km race walk.
With two days of competition remaining, the Australian team is in hot contention in a number of disciplines and gold seems to be the order of the day.
For all the action from the World University Games click here.
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