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Patterson’s return turns little Leongatha into a ghost town

New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder Eleanor Patterson had good reason to expect her hometown in the Victorian countryside to resemble a ghost town when she competes in Melbourne’s Maurie Plant Meet this Saturday night.

Patterson, the 2022 world champion female high jumper, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games bronze medallist, and winner of the silver medal at last week’s Nanjing World Indoor Championships, was advised by her mother that the meet at Lakeside Stadium will double as a reunion of family and friends from her childhood.

Saturday will be the first time in seven years that Patterson has competed in her home state, and its generated plenty of excitement in Leongatha, population 5869 and situated 135km south-east of Melbourne.

“My lovely mother is here and hanging out,” said Patterson who was denied – on countback – the gold medal in China by fellow NSWIS athlete, Nicola Olyslagers.

“She’s already told me that so many people have bought tickets, and so, a lot of the ticket sales have been from people from Leongatha or people from my childhood and a lot of family and friends. So, I feel very lucky, and a shout out to everyone from Leongatha who have probably bought a lot of the tickets!”

“I am so excited to compete here in Melbourne. I grew up in country Victoria and I have been in Sydney for a while now and I haven’t actually competed in Victoria full stop for maybe seven years full stop. So, this is really exciting and important to me – especially off the back of a very important meet in China and a confidence boost.”

Patterson is one of many NSWIS athletes headlining the meet. They include triple Olympian and Australia’s top male high jumper Brandon Starc who wile involved in a showdown against three top Victorians Joel Baden, Yual Reath, and rising starRoman Anastasios. Patterson will compete against Erin Shaw, a world championship athlete.

NSWIS Paris Paralympics bronze medallist Mali Lovell, who smashed the 100m T36 National record at the Sydney Track classic is braced for her duel with New Zealand’s Paralympic champion Anna Grimaldi (T47) and Western Australia’s three-time global medallist Rhiannon Clarke.

World Athletics Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little (NSWIS) will go head-to-head with back-to-back world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barber in a world class javelin competition. Lianna Davidson will also fly the NSWIS colours in this event.

Two-time Olympian Oliver Hoare (NSWIS) is pitted against a star-studded field in the John Landy Memorial 1500m event. He’s up against fellow Olympian Peter Bol, reigning Australian champion Adam Spencer and gun youngster Cameron Meyers from the ACT.

NSWIS Speedsters Rohan Browning and Sebastian Sultana, Australia’s reigning men’s 100m champion, take on Queenslander Lachlan Kennedy who won a silver medal at last week’s world indoor championships.

Connor Murphy, who qualified for last year’s triple jump final at the Paris Olympics will represent the Institute in a tough field.

Among the other stars competing are Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, Botswanan 4 x 400m relay silver medallists Bayapo Ndori and Leungo Scotch, Queensland’s 17-year-old sprint sensation Gout Gout and Olympic bronze medallist Matt Denney will spin the discus.

The full list of NSWIS athletes competing is:

Maurie Plant Meet