Cameron Myers at the Australian Championships in Sydney (© Getty Images)
Cameron Myers improved his own Oceania all-comers’ 1500m record by running 3:29.85 at the Australian Championships in Sydney on Friday (10).
The 19-year-old beat the 3:30.42 he ran during the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Melbourne at the end of March, becoming the first athlete to break 3:30 this year and recording the second-fastest time of his career behind the area U20 record of 3:29.80 he set in Ostrava last year.
Oliver Hoare finished second (3:32.66) and world indoor bronze medallist Adam Spencer was third (3:34.23).
“To do this in front of a home crowd and the way I did it, is awesome,” Myers told Australian Athletics. “It took me a while this year to get going, but I’ve got going now and hopefully this shows I will be a real contender in the European season.”
There was drama in the women’s 1500m as Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull fell on the home straight and Claudia Hollingsworth crossed the finish line first but was later disqualified. The title went to Sarah Billings who clocked 4:17.36 ahead of Abbey Caldwell.
Lachlan Kennedy became the first Australian athlete to break 10 seconds on home soil, winning his 100m heat in 9.96 (0.2m/s) to improve his PB by 0.02.
“I was super relaxed it almost felt easy,” he said, “so I think I have a bit more in the tank for the final.”
Mia Scerri won the heptathlon after setting five PBs across the seven events, scoring 6175, while world U20 champion Delta Amidzovski soared a PB of 6.84m in long jump qualification.
Championships action continues on Saturday and Sunday.
