13.03.2010

New national record to leaping Lapierre in Doha

New South Welshman Fabrice Lapierre has set a new Australian and Oceania indoor record to book his place alongside fellow Australian Flame athlete Mitchell Watt in tonight’s men’s long jump final at the world indoor championships in Doha, Qatar, overnight.

Opening his account with a season’s best leap of 7.66m, 26-year-old Lapierre leapt 8.19m on his second attempt to gain automatic qualification to tonight’s final and smash the previous national record of 8.11m shared by Glenn Carroll (Flagstaff, 03/03/1990) and Peter Burge (Sindelfingen, 05/03/2001 and Lisbon, 11/03/2001).

Lapierre will step out as the No. 1 ranked qualifier when the deciding round gets under way at 1:45am tonight (AEDST).

After withdrawing from the Sydney Track Classic last month and a quiet outing at last week’s IAAF-sanctioned Melbourne Track Classic, placing fourth with a leap of 7.65m (w:-0.2), Lapierre said he knew he was in good touch coming into today’s qualifying round.

“I wasn't that surprised, I was feeling good before I came back to Australia but the day before I got on the plane (to Australia) I tweaked my hamstring,” he said.

“I pulled out of Sydney and then I think I was more mentally scared in Melbourne than anything else, so I backed off. I knew I was in good form though.”

The fourth place-getter at last year’s Berlin world championships will look to apply the same winning formula to his preparations for tonight’s decider.

“I'll just relax, have a massage and get a good dinner. I won't be doing anything different,” Lapierre said.

On a dominant afternoon for the Australians, world championships long jump bronze medallist Mitchell Watt hit the automatic qualifying mark head-on with his opening attempt, advancing with a leap of 8.00m.

He will enter the deciding round as the No. 2 qualifier and one of only two athletes to have nailed the 8.00m-mark at the Aspire Dome this weekend.

Twenty-one-year-old Watt arrived in Doha still feeling the effects of the groin injury that forced him out of competition midway through last week’s Melbourne Track Classic but said he would be out to better the season-high mark of 8.16m he recorded at last month’s Sydney Track Classic and secure the world indoor crown when the action gets under way tonight.

"(I wasn’t as confident) as I usually am before a competition,” Watt said.

“Yesterday was the first day I have been able to put on shoes (spikes) since Melbourne. In my last competition in Australia I had to pull out and I could hardly walk on the Friday morning, the day I flew over here. I had an injection.

"Obviously I want to jump better in the final, 8.16m is my season's best and I would like to go better than that. It will probably take 8.25m-8.30m for a medal.

"Gold is the most important thing for me at these championships but it has to be a good day.”

Watt said he would seek further medical advice on his injured groin ahead of his return to the Aspire Dome for the final but would otherwise leave his preparation unchanged.

"I'll go back and relax, see the physio and make sure my groin is okay and then do the exact same things as before today," he said.

Opening up the field for the two Australian hopefuls, reigning Olympic champion Irving Saladino (PAN) failed to qualify for the final round, his best effort of 7.80m not enough to see him through.

Defending world indoors champion and world and Olympic silver medallist Godfrey Mokoena (RSA) advanced as a non-automatic qualifier with a leap of 7.95m.

Earlier in the day world, Olympic and Commonwealth pole vault champion Steve Hooker breezed through the qualifying round of the men’s pole vault, booking his place in tonight’s final with his first and only clearance of 5.60m.

The 27-year-old captain of the Australian Flame will line up as firm favourite in the decider, where he will look to add the world indoor crown to his collection of world, Olympic and Commonwealth titles.

On what is set to be a bumper night for Australian athletics at Doha’s Aspire Dome, Lapierre, Watt and Hooker will be joined in the finals action by 27-year-old Victorian Scott Martin, who advanced to the deciding round of the men’s shot put with a season’s best throw of 20.61m in the third and final round of qualifying.

Fellow Australian Flame athlete Petrina Price was the only Australian casualty on day one of competition, the 25-year-old bowing out of the women’s high jump in 13th place with a clearance of 1.85m.

Australians in finals action at the world indoor championships in Doha, Qatar (AEDST):

Sunday, March 14

00:15: Steve Hooker – Men’s pole vault final
00:20: Scott Martin – Men’s shot put final

01:45: Mitchell Watt and Fabrice Lapierre – Men’s long jump final