Athletics Australia – News – Five join road to Commonwealth Games glory

Five athletes have today been added to the list of nominations to the Australian athletics team bound for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, in October.

Marathon runners Lisa Flint, Martin Dent, Jeff Hunt and Michael Shelley will join Olympic and world championships representative Lisa Weightman, who earned automatic nomination to the team following her top-20 finish at the IAAF world championships in Berlin, Germany, last year, on the road to Delhi for the 19^th edition of the Commonwealth Games.

Also added to the team in today’s latest round of nominations is emerging race walker Jessica Rothwell, who placed ninth at this month’s IAAF World Race Walking Cup to secure the last remaining walks berth up for grabs.

Four of the five marathoners nominated to the team will make their Commonwealth Games debut in New Delhi, with all athletes bar Dent to don the Commonwealth colours for the first time.

Thirty-one-year-old Dent will line up for his second Commonwealth Games campaign after placing fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the Melbourne edition of the meet in 2006. In 2009 he was the highest-placed of the four Australians in action in the men’s marathon at the IAAF world championships, crossing the line in 21^st place (2:16.05), and in February this year clocked a new personal best time of 2:13.27 at the Beppu-Oita marathon in Japan.

Dent, the only one of the four male athletes who represented Australia at last year’s world championships to be nominated for the Commonwealth Games, will be joined over the 42.195km course by four-time world cross country representative Michael Shelley and 2009 world half marathon championships representative Jeff Hunt, who clocked the fastest ever performance on debut by an Australian in his inaugural marathon hit-out in Japan in February this year.

Competing for the first time over the full marathon distance at the Beppu-Oita event, Hunt impressed selectors with his time of 2:11.00, surpassing the 1986 Commonwealth Games bronze medal-winning effort of national distance legend Steve Moneghetti.

At the time of Hunt’s record-setting run Moneghetti, now an Athletics Australia selector, said “to do that on debut shows that (Hunt) has a great future.”

Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors Peter Fitzgerald said the new crew of marathon athletes nominated to the team had shown great potential in recent months.

“There appears to be a bit of a changing of the guard in men’s marathon running but that’s not necessarily the case because a lot of last year’s (world championships) team were not available for various reasons, including injury,” he said.

“Dent’s only seriously been running the marathon for two years and then we have two athletes nominated to the team off their debut performances in the event.

“We would be hopeful of success at the Games but it’s probably a bit of a wildcard given the nature of the event, the fact there will be very difficult conditions in Delhi and the strength of the men’s field will vary.”

Joining Weightman in the women’s event will be reigning national marathon champion Lisa Flint, who took out last year’s Australian title with a new personal best time of 2:34.08 in Melbourne in October.

Fitzgerald said selectors were hopeful of seeing the tradition of success in women’s marathon running at the Commonwealth Games continue in New Delhi.

“We have a tradition of consistent success in the marathon and with Lisa Weightman’s terrific personal best in Nagano (JPN, 2:28.48) last month we would be hoping that she wins a medal and might even start favourite depending on the entry list,” he said.

“Lisa Flint is a bit of an unknown, it’s her first international event and again, with our women’s history in the event, anything could be possible for her.”

Also added to the team in the latest round of nominations is race walker Jessica Rothwell, who made a successful return to competition from injury this month to place ninth at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Rothwell, a former world junior championships and two-time World Race Walking Cup representative, will join 2009 world championships teammates Claire Tallent and Cheryl Webb over the women’s 20km course when competition gets under way in New Delhi in October.

“For a long time Jess has been regarded as having real potential going forward and the selectors had no hesitation in nominating her to the team,” Fitzgerald said.

Today’s nominations take the total number of athletes submitted to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association for inclusion in the national team to 74. The final Australian athletics team is expected to feature up to of 90 athletes when final nominations are announced.

Men (45)
100m: Aaron Rouge-Serret (22, Vic)
200m: Matt Davies (25, Qld)*
400m: Ben Offereins (24, WA), John Steffensen (27, NSW), Joel Milburn (24, NSW)
800m: Lachlan Renshaw (23, NSW), Ryan Gregson (20, NSW)
1500m: Gregson, Jeff Riseley (23, Vic), Jeremy Roff (26, NSW)
5000m: Ben St Lawrence (28, NSW), Collis Birmingham (25, Vic), David McNeill (23, Vic)
10,000m: Birmingham
400m hurdles: Brendan Cole (28, ACT), Tristan Thomas (24, ACT)
Marathon: Martin Dent (31, ACT), Jeff Hunt (27, NSW), Michael Shelley (26, Qld)
High jump: Liam Zamel-Paez (21, Qld)
Pole vault: Steve Hooker (27, WA)
Long jump: Fabrice Lapierre (26, NSW), Chris Noffke (22, Qld), Mitchell Watt (22, Qld)
Shot put: Scott Martin (27, Vic), Dale Stevenson (22, Vic)
Discus throw: Benn Harradine (27, Vic), Martin, Julian Wruck (18, Qld)
Hammer throw: Tim Driesen (26, Vic), Simon Wardhaugh (24, Qld)
Javelin throw: Jarrod Bannister (25, Vic)
20km walk: Luke Adams (33, NSW), Chris Erickson (28, Vic), Jared Tallent (25, Vic)
T46 100m: Gabriel Cole (18, SA), Heath Francis (28, ACT), Simon Patmore (22, Qld)
T54 1500m: Richard Colman (25, Vic), Kurt Fearnley (29, NSW), Jake Lappin (17, Vic)
F32/34/52 shot put: Damien Bowen (25, ACT), Hamish MacDonald (35, ACT)
4x100m relay: Davies, Jacob Groth (24, NSW), Patrick Johnson (37, Qld), Isaac Ntiamoah (27, NSW), Rouge-Serret
4x400m relay: Milburn, Kevin Moore (19, NSW), Offereins, Steffensen, Sean Wroe (25, Vic)

Women (29)
100m: Melissa Breen (19, ACT)
5000m: Eloise Wellings (27, NSW)
10,000m: Wellings
100m hurdles: Hayley Butler (26, NSW), Sally Pearson (nee McLellan, 23, Qld)
400m hurdles: Lauren Boden (21, ACT)
Marathon: Lisa Flint (25, NSW), Lisa Weightman (31, Vic)
High jump: Ellen Pettitt (24, WA)*, Petrina Price (26, NSW)
Pole vault: Amanda Bisk (24, WA), Alana Boyd (26, WA), Liz Parnov (16, WA)
Shot put: Joanne Mirtschin (29, ACT)
Discus throw: Dani Samuels (22, NSW)
Hammer throw: Karyne di Marco (32, NSW), Bronwyn Eagles (29, NSW), Gabrielle Neighbour (26, Vic)
Javelin throw: Kimberley Mickle (25, WA), Kathryn Mitchell (27, Vic)
20km walk: Jessica Rothwell (20, Vic), Claire Tallent (28, SA), Cheryl Webb (33, NSW)
T37 100m: Jodi Elkington (16, Vic)
T54 1500m: Christie Dawes (23, NSW)
F32-34/52/53 shot put: Louise Ellery (33, Vic), Brydee Moore (19, Vic)
4x400m relay: Jody Henry (25, WA), Tamsyn Lewis (31, Vic), Pirrenee Steinert (25, NSW)

* Nomination pending fitness

Athletics Australia – News