Athletics Australia announces team for World Championships

Athletics Australia announces team for World Championships
Athletics Australia Release

 17 April 2001 - A young and strong team of 27 athletes has been selected by Athletics Australia to contest the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Canada from 3-12 August 2001.

 With an age range of 23 years from the youngest team member Georgie Clarke at 16 years to the oldest and most experienced athlete Kerry Saxby-Junna at 39 years, the Australian Team has an impressive blend of youth and experience. The average age of the team is 25 years.

 The team includes a number of Olympic and World Championships medallists including  Jai Taurima (QLD – long jump, Olympic silver in 2000), Tatiana Grigorieva (SA – pole vault, Olympic silver in 2000, World Championships bronze in 1999), Dmitri Markov (WA – pole vault, World Championships silver in 1999), Saxby-Junna (NSW – 20km walk, World Championships bronze in 1999) and Andrew Murphy (NSW – triple jump, World Indoor Championships bronze in 2001).

 The next generation of athletics star is also well represented with 2000 World Junior champion Jana Pittman (NSW – 400m hurdles), 2000 World Junior bronze medallist Georgie Clarke (Vic – 1500m), recent Commonwealth record setter Bronwyn Eagles (NSW – hammer throw), and Craig Mottram (Vic – 5000m) and Benita Willis (ACT - 5000m) who both challenged the world’s best at the recent World Indoor and World Cross Country Championships.

 Nine athletes in the team will be making their World Championships debut and of the 27, only two did not compete at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (Adam Basil and Bronwyn Eagles). This will be Kerry Saxby-Junna's sixth World Championships – the most number of any athlete in the Australian Team.

 Australian Team:

 Men
100m               Matt Shirvington (NSW) {2nd World Championships team)
200m              Patrick Johnson (ACT)  {2nd WC}
5000m            Craig Mottram (VIC) {1st WC}
110m Hurdles  Kyle Vander Kuyp (VIC) {5th consecutive WC}
400m Hurdles  Blair Young (QLD) {1st WC}
20km Walk     Nathan Deakes (VIC) {2nd WC}
Pole Vault      Dmitri Markov (WA) {3rd WC}
Long Jump     Peter Burge (NSW) {1st WC}
                     Jai Taurima (QLD) {2nd WC}
Triple Jump    Andrew Murphy (NSW) {3rd WC}
Shot Put        Justin Anlezark (QLD) {1st WC}
Hammer Throw Stuart Rendell (ACT) {3rd WC}
4x100m Relay Shirvington, Johnson, Adam Basil (VIC) {2nd WC}, Paul Di Bella (QLD) {2nd WC}, Darryl Wohlsen (QLD) {2nd WC}

 Women
200m               Lauren Hewitt (VIC) {3rd WC}
400m              Nova Peris (NT) {3rd WC}
800m              Tamsyn Lewis (VIC) {2nd WC}
1500m            Georgie Clarke (VIC) {1st WC}
5000m            Benita Willis (ACT) {1st WC}
400m Hurdles Jana Pittman (NSW) {1st WC}
20km Walk     Kerry Saxby-Junna (NSW) {6th WC}, Jane Saville (NSW) {3rd WC}
Pole Vault      Tatiana Grigorieva (SA) {2nd WC}
Hammer Throw Bronwyn Eagles (NSW) {1st WC}
                     Karyne Di Marco (NSW) {1st WC}
Heptathlon     Jane Jamieson (NSW) {3rd WC}

 A supplementary squad has also been announced. These athletes will be required to attain the AA standard for their event by the closing date for entries for the World Championships (22 July) to be added to the team.

 Supplementary Squad:
Men
400m          Patrick Dwyer (NSW)  AA – 45.40s
                  Casey Vincent (NSW)  AA – 45.40s
                  Daniel Batman (NSW)  AA – 45.40s
800m          Grant Cremer (NSW)  AA – 1:45.50
Pole Vault   Viktor Chistiakov (SA)  AA – 5.75m
4x400m Relay In the event of at least two athletes being added to the individual 400m event, these others, plus Paul Pearce (VIC) and Blair Young (QLD) will be added to the 4x400m relay squad.

 Women
100m           Lauren Hewitt (VIC) – already selected in 200m AA – 11.25s
200m          Melinda Gainsford-Taylor (NSW)  AA – 22.80s
5000m        Kerryn McCann (NSW)  AA – 15:16.00
Discus Throw Alison Lever (QLD)  AA – 62.80m

 Athletics Australia Head Coach Keith Connor said the team encompasses Australia’s form athletes in 2001 so far and star performers from last year’s Olympic Games.

 “This team is not the largest we have sent to a major international championships but it does include our athletes who automatically qualified for the team and others who represent a realistic final’s chance at international level,” Mr Connor said.

 “We are in the first year of a four-year Olympic preparation phase and this team was only ever going to comprise our current elite performers. This team does have the potential to be achieve the best result of any Australian team at a World Championships and aim for a top 10 result on the nation’s table.”