Track Stars Peaking for Paris

Track and field stars from the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS), who are just days away from competing at the Paris Olympic Games, have made a statement days about their form, with Mackenzie Little and Oli Hoare clinching wins at the London Diamond League, while Ella Connolly in the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team made another record breaking performance.

Royal North Shore Hospital registrar Mackenzie Little opened the meet for the Australians with a bang, sailing the javelin to 66.27m on her first attempt, en route to securing gold and a new personal best.

“I’ve felt really fulfilled working this year, so I think holistically I’ve been in a good mental space, despite it being busy and tiring sometimes,” Little said.

Despite delivering the world’s second largest throw of the year, and winning by 0.69-metres ahead of Adriana Vilagos’ Serbian record of 65.58, the global medallist says she won’t be relying on her history of success when competing at the pinnacle meet.

“I’m thrilled at my performance but there’s definitely that unsettled feeling knowing that athletes like (reigning world champion) Haruka (Kitaguchi, JPN), Adriana, and Victoria  (Hudson, AUT) will be there with fires absolutely burning inside, with lots to prove. I think the event will be really dynamic and open but I now need to keep everything in check and use the nerves and expectations as fuel for some explosive technical throws in Paris.”

Running into the history books with their third Oceania record this year, the Australian women’s 4x100m relay team passed the baton around the track in a time of 42.48.

Exploding out of the blocks, Ella Connolly passed the baton to relay mainstayer Bree Masters, with smooth transitions continuing through to Kristie Edwards, as Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis stormed down the home straight. The quartet finished fourth behind the new world leaders, Great Britain (41.55), France (42.10) as well as Great Britain’s second team (42.46).

“It felt great out there today. The conditions were great, there’s an amazing crowd of 60,000 out here, so it’s definitely a great confidence boost pre-Paris,” Masters said.

“We’ve got so much depth in our squad and we’re so interchangeable and adaptable in any leg. We’ve proven that by breaking the record with changing team members.”

Edwards echoed Masters comments stating, “It gives me heaps of confidence. I was nervous out there because I hadn’t run with the actual team for a little while but it was a great hit out and so good to know we can run fast in that environment and that order.”

Contesting the Men’s 4x100m relay was the Australian team of Sebastian Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi who finished second behind Japan (38.07) in 38.31, for their fastest time as a team this year.

World champion Nina Kennedy won her fifth consecutive competition this year, with a 4.85m performance to cement her place as a true contender in Paris.

Amongst a world class field that included Olympic champion Katie Moon (USA) and World Indoor champion Molly Caudery (GBR), only Canadian Alysha Newman and Kennedy could clear 4.75m. While both women were unable to clear 4.85m on their first attempt, Kennedy locked in first place on her second jump, while Newman failed all three attempts.

Oliver Hoare made it three wins for the Australians in London when clocking a season’s best of 3:49.03 in the Emsley Carr Mile. A dramatic start to the race saw three athletes fall down with no restart, but it did not deter the Australian contingent of four.

Stewart McSweyn led the field throughout the race, until Hoare put his foot on the accelerator with 250m to go to overtake his compatriot. Though McSweyn fell away in the closing stages of the race, he crossed the line in 3:49.59 for fifth place, while teen sensation Cameron Myers finished sixth in 3:50.16. Adam Spencer closed out the field in 3:55.49.

Australian record holder Catriona Bisset placed ninth in the Women’s 800m, clocking 1:58.12 for the fastest time over two laps by an Australian woman this year. The race was won by GBR’s Keely Hodgkinson in a world leading time and national record of 1:54.61, with the whole field completing the race in under two-minutes.

Athletes competing at the Paris Olympics will now make their way to Montpellier, France for Athletics Australia’s pre-Olympic staging camp, before the Athletics program commences on August 1.

Article courtesy of Athletics Australia