The weekend spotlight belonged to Cameron Myers and his World Under 20 record, but a host of Australian athletics stars stamped their claim for a big 2025 with statement results on the eve of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series.
The 18-year-old Myers (Dick Telford) stretched his legs to claim third place in the Wannamaker Mile at the prestigious Millrose Games, seeing him become the fastest Under 20 athlete in history over the distance. Myers clocked 3:47.48 to break the Australian Open record in the Mile Short Track and equal Oliver Hoare’s outright record, with more on his historic achievement HERE.
Ky Robinson (Dathan Ritzenhein) joined the national record party with a time of 7.30.38 to eclipse Myers’ 3000m Short Track record set last week, while Jessica Hull (Simon Hull) qualified for next month’s World Athletics Indoor Championships over 3000m in a time of 8:30.91. Linden Hall (Ned Brophy-Williams) clinched sixth place in the Women’s Wannamaker Mile in 4:24.58.
Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis (Laurent Meuwly) delivered a slick double in Metz, France when tearing to victory over 60m in 7.20-seconds, but it was her 200m that was even more promising.
The World Under 20 silver medallist torched one lap of the indoor circuit in a time of 22.65 to miss Melinda Gainsford-Taylor’s national record by just 0.01-seconds, racing to the fastest time of her career by 0.23-seconds.
Adding to the indoor action, Olympic bronze medallist Eleanor Patterson made her return to competition with a 1.94m clearance to claim gold in the Czech Republic, opening her 2025 campaign in style.
Racing in Brisbane at the Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre, Australia’s 4x100m men posted a series of hot times with unique combinations, serving up four performances between 38.32 – 38.71.
The fastest time came from the quartet of Jospeh Ayoade, Calab Law, Christopher Ius and Lachlan Kennedy in 38.32, closely followed by the 38.37 recorded earlier in the day by Ius, Joshua Azzopardi, Law and Jacob Despard.
Leading the way at New Zealand’s Sir Graeme Douglas International, Olympic semi-finalist Bree Masters (Ryan Hoffman) laid down a strong marker ahead of this weekend’s Adelaide Invitational, clocking 11.23 (+1.3) for the win and an equal personal best.
Long jumper Liam Adcock (Stefania Massignam) leapt to the farthest distance of his career to also take the win with 8.21m (+2.5), adding to his Australian Short Track title earlier this month, while Cooper Sherman (Neville Down) clocked 46.14 over 400m to narrowly take down 17-year-old Terrell Thorne (Chris Dale) in 46.39.
Spearheading the Para ranks with a world record for the T38 classification in Bendigo, Paralympic bronze medallist Reece Langdon (Tim O’Shaughnessy) continued his hot form with a time of 14:32.84 to better his own mark despite the event not being offered on the Paralympic program, while Rheed McCracken (Louise Sauvage) lowered his own Australian 400m T34 record of 48.86.to lead the way in Sharjah, UAE.
Adding to the Para middle-distance action Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders) was valiant at the Sir Graeme Douglas International when finishing in seventh place of the 1500m in 3:46.85 after a tough start, while Annabelle Colman (Liz Gosper & Anthony De Castella) set a personal best of 5:07.95 at the Victorian Mile Championships.
Australia’s emerging talents from the 2024 World Under 20 Championships led by Myers and Lewis are showing no signs of slowing down, with personal bests also delivered by Robert Marchesi-Scott (Grant Ward) in the shot put with 17.99m and Alesha Bennetts (Matt Beckenham) in the 400m Hurdles with a time of 57.80.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 10/2/2025
