Athletics Australia – News – Beijing 2015

Lauren Wells (ACT) is arguably Australia’s most reliable athlete. Every year since the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the eight-time national 400m hurdles champion has convincingly earned her selection to the Australian Flame team, progressing through to at least the semi-final on every occasion.

That reliability, though, is something that Wells is keen to break away from.

She sees a start in the final of the women’s 400m hurdles as an important step in the right direction and, if her IAAF World Championships build-up is anything to go by, then Beijing 2015 may provide the ideal opportunity to deliver on one of the grandest stages athletics has to offer.

“My whole domestic season was very consistent. I tend to run quite well in Australia, but the good thing is that I have been able to transfer that to my European campaign as well. All of my races were within a few tenths of each other and to have now run under 56 seconds was a relief. It reflected where I have been at in training and it is certainly nice to be improving my times coming into a major,” Wells said.

Wells believes that she is in personal best shape, and a performance of that standard is likely to be required to advance to the round-of-eight.

“I always want to be in the best shape of my life on every team that I make, that’s everybody’s aim. Unfortunately, though, I’ve never been able to run faster in the second round of a major. All of the top girls can do this, so for me I know that I need to run solidly in my heat and then deliver in the semi,” Wells said.

“It is going to take anything under 55-seconds to make the final. My personal best is 55.08 and I so badly want to crack under that barrier. If I can do that and score a top-eight then that would be my medal. It would be amazing.”

Alongside Kim Mickle (WA, javelin), Chris Erickson (Vic, race walk) and Alana Boyd (Qld, pole vault), Wells will play a vital role in leading the Australian Flame as a team co-captain. She was honoured to be selected for the role, and hopes to pass on some of the lessons she has learned across the journey to the new talent that the team boasts.

“It’s a huge honour to be a part of the leadership group. Whilst I am not that old, I am experienced in terms of teams, so it is nice to be recognised in that way and to be viewed as a leader. I genuinely love being on the Australian team, mixing with a whole bunch of people and talking with everybody. If I can pass on any of the things that I’ve learned onto other athlete, whether they are are old or new, then that’s great,” Wells added.

Wells is one of three hurdlers scheduled to start in the Bird’s Nest, with Nicholas Hough (NSW) and Michelle Jenneke (NSW) to start in the men’s 110m hurdles and women’s 100m hurdles respectively.

Hough, who won silver at the IAAF World Junior Championships and made a surprise final at the Commonwealth Games last year, has the national record of Kyle Van Der Kuyp in his sights, while Jenneke will start with a new personal best of 12.82 from the Australian Athletics Championships under her belt.

“The performance (Australian hurdles record) is something that I am capable of and hopefully it comes in the next twelve months. It is an amazing time that Kyle set, it’s one that has stood the test of time over the last twenty years. I’d be honoured to get near that, I’m certainly aiming for it and hopefully it is something that I can get down to in Beijing,” Hough said. 

“Kyle has always been one of my idols. He was a breakthrough athlete for Australia in the hurdles, he has done some amazing performances. At one stage, he had four or five of the fastest times in Australian history, so even to be ranked second to him is a real honour.”

Set to start in the women’s 100m is Melissa Breen (ACT), the fastest ever Australian woman. Ella Nelson (NSW) will duel in the longer 200m and Anneliese Rubie (NSW) has reaped the benefits of the IAAF Roll-Down Process to earn a start in the women’s one-lap race. Rubie will also compete alongside Morgan Mitchell (Vic), Lyndsay Pekin (WA) and Jess Gulli (Vic) in the 4x400m relay.

Breen clocked 11.85 (w: -3.5) into a nasty headwind at the Juntendo University Track Meet on the outskirts of Tokyo (JPN) this past weekend. At the same event, Rubie ran a new personal best of 52.20 to highlight her continued improvement on the road to Beijing 2015 after running 52.29 earlier this month on the Sunshine Coast (Qld).

The Australian Flame team for the IAAF World Championships is 45-strong, boasting 42 individual athletes and the women’s 4x400m relay. Three athletes will also compete in exhibition masters events to bring the overall squad size to 48.

Athletes are continuing their preparation for Beijing 2015 at a team camp in Wakayama (JPN).

At the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow (RUS), Australia won three medals – two silver (Sally Pearson, Kim Mickle) and one bronze (Jared Tallent) – and scored 27 points to place 16th of 203 competing nations.

For more information on the IAAF World Championships, please click here to visit iaaf.org.

For more information on the Australian Flame, please click here to visit athletics.com.au.

Athletics Australia – News