Fifth
100m title for Shirvington, as young talent Geddes makes 200m breakthrough at
Australian Trials
Mike Hurst (daily and
Sunday Telegraph, Australia) for the IAAF
15 April 2002 - Brisbane - Matt Shirvington won his fifth 100m title in a row at
the Australian athletics championships in Brisbane last weekend, his first
victory of the entire Telstra A-series.
Shirvington could not even be in Canberra for the series opener on February 8, his coach Michael Khmel revealing he was receiving 10 anti-inflammatory injections into both shins from his Sydney doctor. However against all odds, ``Shirvo'' displayed his excellent temperament to win by 0.01sec in his first Commonwealth Games qualifying time of the year at 10.31sec, just preventing Brisbane's Paul Di Bella (10.32sec) from taking his first national crown.
England's European champion and Olympic 100m finalist Darren Campbell, took third in 10.38sec. Canberra's Patrick Johnson (10.44) was the third Australian to finish into the 0.3m/sec breeze.
Shirvington was wonderful, again. He surprised even himself after six stress injuries to his right shin forced him to wear an air-cast on his leg throughout November, December and into early January.
``Only a week ago I was thinking I'd just have to cop it on the chin and try to finish top three at the nationals and hopefully get away to the Games,`` said Shirvington, 23, who only laced on spikes for the first time this season on February 10. ``I gave everything I had tonight. I'm definitely not running my best. I'm not fit enough to relax. I was scared to relax because I'm not sure my top speed is there yet.``
Lauren Hewitt won the women's 100m title in 11.40sec (tailwind 0.9m/sec) and looks on track to win her third national sprint double. She came back well from a recent fall from a stool in which she bruised her back, leg and foot. Gloria Kemasuode, a Nigerian living in Sydney, grabbed silver in 11.45sec with England's Joyce Maduaka (11.50sec) taking bronze.
``It was really good to have them (foreign athletes) here and really good to know I can beat them,`` Hewitt rejoiced.
While the entry of overseas athletes adds glamour and extra quality to the nationals, it has distorted some events which are, after all, Australian team selection trials.
In both men's and women's 100m semis earlier in the night, two visitors qualified out of each of the four heats which meant only four Australian women and four men actually reached their own national final. This has implications for relay squad selections for the Commonwealth Games. For this very reason the national championships of Britain and the US are closed to Australians and other foreigners.
Another of coach Khmel's squad, Clinton Hill, 21, won a dramatic finish to the 400m final to earn his first senior title in 45.98sec ahead of Queensland-based Tasmanian Michael Rehardt (46.00sec) who appeared to lead until the final stride.
In the absence of the injured Olympic champion Cathy Freeman, Welsh sprinter Catherine Murphy took the women's 400m in 52.18sec with Freeman stablemate Katerina Dressler claiming the Australian title, third in 52.97sec ahead of NSW's Rosemary Hayward (53.20sec).
In the men’s 200m, young
Sydney sprinter David Geddes destroyed a star-studded field to win
in the breakthrough performance of the Telstra Australian athletics
championships.
A rival to Matt Shirvington for magazine cover
honours, Geddes, 20, at last also proved he is capable of restoring Australian
200m running to international respectability. Geddes bettered the Commonwealth
Games A-qualifying time with his 0.62sec (tailwind 1m/psec) to beat England's
Olympic 200m silver medalist Darren Campbell (20.87sec) as well as local heroes
Patrick Johnson (second Australian but 4th in 20.94sec), national 100m champion
Shirvington
(21.03sec) and
Commonwealth 200m finalist Darryl Wohlsen (21.14sec).
``For the last few years I've always thought I should be up there. I was like a superstar in my own mind, but never had the chance to show what I could do because of injuries,`` Geddes said later. “When I came off the bend ahead of great turn runners like Matt and Darryl, it's almost like I got a second wind,`` continued Geddes, who won by 2m going away.
Geelong's Craig Mottram, 21, played “cat and mouse” before pouncing with 250m to go, to win the men’s 1500m final in 3min 41.19sec. This brought up the national 5000m/1500m title double. On the back of a 53.9sec last lap, Mottram won by 8m from Sydney's Youcef Abdi (3:42.64) and Melbourne's title defending Clinton Mackevicius.
Fifth in the recent world cross-country championship 4km race in Ireland, Mottram logically revealed yesterday: ``I'm running only the 5000m in Manchester. There are only three Kenyans at the Games and I'm pretty sure I can beat one of those.``
Tamsyn Lewis won her fifth national women’s 800m title with another A-qualifying time of 2min 00.88sec by 10m from Perth's Susan Andrews (2:02.40) with Queensland's Adrienne McIvor (2:02.25) and British indoor champion Jo Fenn (2:04.03).
Victoria's Lauren Hewitt brought up her third sprint double, winning the 200m in 22.91sec - a heart-stopping 0.01sec too slow to get her first A-qualifier in her final chance this domestic season. Hewitt beat England's European junior champion Vernicha James (23.13sec, tailwind 1.2m/sec), Queensland's Sharon Cripps (23.36sec) and WA's Jodi Lambert (23.41sec).
``I want the 200m gold in Manchester. I was so close last time. I got bronze in Kuala Lumpur and I was bitterly disappointed with that,`` Hewitt confessed.
In the field, Queensland giant Justin Anlezark overcame a serious groin injury to win the shot put with 19.22m from NSW's Clay Cross who's 18.96m dropped 4cm short of his first A-qualifying throw.
Sydney's Andrew Murphy won his 10th triple jump title with 16.53m, which held off Jacob McReynolds (16.46m) and Wollongong's Andrew Currey won his eighth javelin title with 81.46m.
Jana Pittman, who collapsed with asthma after her heat, improved 5sec to win the 400m hurdles in 55.34sec from Victoria's Sonia Brito (55.50sec), both A-qualifiers.
