Athletics Australia – News – Flame head home from IAAF world championships

Fireworks both on and off the track marked the close of the IAAF world championships in Daegu (KOR) last night, as the Australian Flame headed home with three medals and a top-eight finish on the medal tally.
 
Ranked 12th overall on the points table, just shy of the target top-ten, the Flame have competed above par but with room for further improvement, according to Athletics Australia High Performance Manager Eric Hollingsworth.
 
Hollingsworth said: “I think the team has delivered a credible pass.
 
“Obviously winning a gold, silver and bronze medal was a fantastic result, and had our world champions [Steve Hooker and Dani Samuels] from 2009 delivered something that we all know they are capable of we would have donefantastically.
 
“Athletics is a truly universal sport and great results here are hard to come by. That’s why other top-eight performances by Benn Harradine, Kim Mickle and Luke Adams are fantastic as well, they provide launching pads for the London Olympics build-up this coming ten months.”
 
With the London Olympics now less than 12 months away, Hollingsworth understands the required level of effort to deliver the target six medals next year.
 
Hollingworth added: “To get the results we need in London we need those that were close here, the like of Harradine and Adams, to improve that little bit.
 
“We need Hooker and Samuels, and others like Nathan Deakes and Jana Pittman to find the form that has made them some of the best in the world, and we need the team as a whole committed to becoming the best they can be.
 
“I still think we can deliver six medals – I am not saying that it will be easy, but it isn’t something that we can’t achieve either.”
 
Australia’s medal winners were Sally Pearson, Mitchell Watt and Jared Tallent, while Paralympic and world champion Richard Colman clocked 49.36 to take home gold in an exhibition men's T53 400m event.
 
Pearson arguably delivered the best performance of the whole championships, after ablistering 12.53 in round one of the women’s 100m hurdles, before back-to-back Australian and Oceania records of 12.36 and 12.28 to win gold in resounding fashion. The latter was also a championship record.
 
Watt won silver in the men’s long jump after soaring 8.33m in round two of competition, while Tallent clocked 3:42:36 to win bronze in the men’s 50km walk.
 
The Flame now turn their attention to a solid training block before the commencement of the National Athletics Series in early December. A 13-stop event, the domestic athletics calendar includes five championship events and four Australian Athletics Tour meets.
 
The Australian Athletics Tour in 2012 heads to Adelaide (TBC), Perth and Sydney before closing with the IAAF World Challenge meet in Melbourne, which this year will double as the Selection Trial for the 2012 London Olympics. All four Tour meets will be televised with an announcement on this to follow shortly.

To view and download the medal tally, placing table and full results, please click here.
 
For more information on the IAAF world championships, and the 2012 National Athletics Series, please visit athletics.com.au.
 
2012 National Athletics Series:
Zatopek – 10 December (2011)  – Albert Park
Australian 50km Race Walk Championship and Selection Trail – 11 December – Fawkner Park
Brisbane – 14   January – Brisbane
Newcastle – 21 January – Newcastle
Australian Athletics Tour Adelaide (TBC) – 28 January – Adelaide
Hobart – 3 February – Hobart
Australian Athletics Tour Perth – 11 February – Perth
Australian Athletics Tour Sydney – 18 February – Sydney
Australian 20km Race Walk Championship and Selection Trail – 25 February – Hobart
Australian Athletics Tour Melbourne – IAAF World Challenge & Selection Trial – 1 to 3 March – Albert Park
Australian Junior Championships – 14 to 18 March – Sydney
Australian U15 to U20 Combined Events Championships – 31 March and 1 April – Sydney
90th Australian Athletics Championships – 13 to 15 April – Melbourne Albert Park

Athletics Australia – News