02.08.2011

Flame team announced for IAAF world championships

Athletics Australia have named a 47-strong Flame team for the IAAF world championships in Daegu (KOR), 27 August – 4 September, to be led by reigning world champions Steve Hooker and Dani Samuels, new national record holders Mitchell Watt and Sally Pearson, and dual Olympic medallist Jared Tallent.

Flame captain Hooker won pole vault gold at the 2009 IAAF world championships, in Berlin, with only one clearance. Entering the competition at 5.85m, Hooker watched Frenchman Romain Mesnil clear the height after he failed on his first attempt. He then raised and cleared the bar at 5.90m to record an emphatic victory.
 
Meanwhile Samuels pulled a lifetime best out of the bag in the penultimate round of the discus to take the world title with a heave of 65.44m at the tender age of 21.
 
Watt, who won bronze at the world championships in 2009, leapt to 8.54m (wind +1.7) in Stockholm (SWE) on Friday evening, which usurped Jai Taurima’s Australian record set back in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics. It demonstrated the 23-year-old’s dominance in the event this year, having posted all three of the world-lead jumps, and reaffirmed his position as favourite for gold in Daegu.
 
Pearson has been equally impressive in the 100m hurdles since making her Samsung Diamond League debut in Lausanne (SUI) in June. The Olympic silver medallist has won three Diamond League titles, the second of which, in Birmingham, included a new world-lead and Australian record of 12.48 (wind +0.7).
 
Another Flame athlete looking to turn Beijing success into global glory is Tallent, who won silver in the 50km and bronze in the 20km walk at the 2008 Olympics.
 
Dion Russell, Chairman of Selectors, said: “We are excited by this group of athletes who will be heading to Daegu. We have a solid mix of experienced major championship performers alongside a group of potential stars for whom we have the London Olympics, and beyond, in mind.
 
“In adherence with the selection policy we have made every effort to consider each individual athlete and subsequently made some additions to the team. These discretionary selections were made taking into account a number of factors that we believe will produce a performance result for Australia on the world stage.
 
“Building on recent world class performances we go into Daegu confident with the calibre of this team, as well as setting a strong foundation to build upon for London 2012 and beyond.”
 
Nick Moore, Athletics Australia Vice President, added: “The board is very happy to ratify the team the selectors have picked. We are very exited about the prospect of what this team could achieve at this major event.
 
“The selectors have done a fantastic job in reaching this point and we feel we are in a great position, a year out from the Olympics.”
 
The full selection policy guide is available by clicking here.
 
AUSTRALIAN FLAME TEAM:
MEN:
800m: Jeff Riseley (Vic)
1500m: Ryan Gregson (NSW), Jeff Riseley (Vic)
5000m: Collis Birmingham (Vic), Craig Mottram (Vic), Ben St Lawrence (NSW)
10000m: Ben St Lawrence (NSW)
Marathon: Jeff Hunt (NSW)
3000mSC: Youcef Abdi (NSW)
Pole vault: Steve Hooker (WA, Captain)
Long jump: Robbie Crowther (ACT), Fabrice Lapierre (NSW), Mitchell Watt (Qld)
Triple jump: Henry Frayne (Qld)
Discus throw: Benn Harradine (Vic)
Javelin: Jarrod Bannister (Vic)
20km walk: Luke Adams (ACT), Adam Rutter (ACT), Jared Tallent (ACT)
50km walk: Luke Adams (ACT), Nathan Deakes (ACT), Jared Tallent (ACT)
4x100m: Anthony Alozie (Vic), Matt Davies (Qld), Liam Gander (NSW), Isaac Ntiamoah (NSW), Aaron Rouge-Serret (Vic)
4x400m: Ben Offereins (WA), Steve Solomon (NSW), John Steffensen (NSW), Tristan Thomas (ACT), Sean Wroe (Vic)
400m T53: Richard Colman (Vic)
 
FEMALE:
100m: Sally Pearson (Qld)
1500m: Kaila McKnight (Vic)
10000m: Eloise Wellings (NSW)
100mH: Sally Pearson (Qld)
400mH: Lauren Boden (ACT)
Pole vault: Alana Boyd (WA)
Discus throw: Dani Samuels (NSW)
Javelin: Kim Mickle (WA)
20km walk: Regan Lamble (ACT), Claire Tallent (ACT)
4x100m: Melissa Breen (ACT), Hayley Butler (NSW), Sally Pearson (Qld), Charlotte van Veenendaal (Qld), Laura Whaler (NSW)
4x400m: Lauren Boden (ACT), Tamsyn Manou (Vic), Caitlin Pincott (NSW), Anneliese Rubie (NSW), Caitlin Sargent (Qld)
800m T53: Madison de Rozario (WA)