Aussie Relays: Men set National Record

There was a new national record for the 4x100m relay men and a near best time for the women’s 4x100m but neither were able to advance to the final. 

The Australian men’s 4x100m relay squad came to Paris with the goal of breaking the Australian record of 38.17 seconds. 

The quartet of Lachlan Kennedy, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Josh Azzopardi ran superbly to clock 38.12s to set the national and Oceania record. 

However, the Aussies were in the much faster heat. They finished sixth and their time would have won heat two. They were 0.05s behind the defending champions from Italy who snatched the last non-automatic spot. 

“The record’s been a long time coming, if I’m honest,” said Jacob, who ran the second leg.

“We’ve definitely had the potential and the speed for a number of years and a lot of people have said ‘You’ve got the raw speed, why haven’t you broken it?’ 

“Today we went out there and showed Australia what we can do and what we’re proud to do. An Australian record holder sounds pretty nice to me.”

Lachlan, who was a late replacement on the opening leg for Seb Sultana, made a blistering start and great bend.

“It’s really unfortunate that Seb couldn’t run, he definitely deserved to be there,” Lachlan said.

“He put in all the hard work and is the national champion.

“It’s a real shame that he did his injury, but I just had to run my best for him and for the rest of the boys. I came in here as a reserve and I knew I had to be ready. I just ran my best race.

“The rest of the fellas ran extremely well, and shame not to make the final, but we got that record, so you can’t do much better than that.”

After missing direct progression to the 200m semi-finals, Calab made the relay the priority.

“I think pulling out of the repechage (200m) was definitely a good decision because I knew we could obviously do something really special and we got that Australian record so it was worth it” Calab said. 

Josh ran the final leg with five teams battling for those final spots.

“It was unreal. I love being that fourth leg anchor, so I get to carry the boys over the line with me,” Josh said.

“They put in all the hard work and I just finished it off. I was running for that Italian bloke in front of me.”

The previous record was set at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg and then equaled in the London 2012 Olympic final. 

The Australian Women’s 4x100m team of NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Ella Connolly, Bree Masters, Kristie Edwards and Torrie Lewis ran their second fastest time but it wasn’t enough to progress.

They were fourth in their heat in 42.75s and missed the automatic progression by one place. They were anxiously waiting to see the times from heat two, with the Netherlands securing the final lane in the final with 42.64s. 

“Obviously a little bit disappointed to miss the final, but it’s our second best time we’ve run as a team, so I think we can hold our heads high knowing that we gave it everything,” Ella said.

“It’s a really exciting time for Australian sprinting.”

The strength of the extended squad and the camaraderie is why this group of women have been able to break the women’s national record several times and be so competitive here at the Olympics.

“We’ve got such a strong squad and this result shows that,” Torrie said. 

“We are all included. We all do the changes, even if you’re not running, you warm up with us like you’re ready to run. If any of us were taken out of the team we’d support it just the same. So I think we’re all around that.”

Article courtesy of the AOC