Beijing 2008 – Field of Dreams – Athletics Australia NEWS

In 15 days the Australian athletics team will step onto the biggest stage in the world; the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, China. The spotlight will be on athletics, the premier sport of the Games. As the countdown begins, the 41 strong team will be making their final preparations on the path to fulfilling their greatest ambitions. It’s a stage where dreams are made and heroes are born, here is an athletics.com.au special on the Australian athletics team.

Right now, athletes are scattered throughout the world competing and training at the highest level to make sure they are ready for what is to come. But in the first week of August the majority of athletes will make their way to a training camp at Hong Kong University where they will acclimatise to the heat and humidity, finalise their preparations and come together as the Australian athletics team before they step into the spotlight in Beijing.

The walks camp, after the success of their World Championships campaign will again base themselves in Kochi, Japan, before making their way directly into the Olympic village.

The Aussie team boasts both talent and youth.  Eleven members hold current Australian records, of which five were set in 2008. The average age of the team is 25 and more than half of the team, 26 athletes will make their Olympic debut.

With medals difficult to predict in a sport where the global depth is phenomenal, instead of the traditional who to watch preview, we’ve decided to have a look at the team by discipline.

Throws
Men’s throws is arguably the strongest athletics discipline in Australia in 2008.  Australian record holder Jarrod Bannister currently leads the world in the javelin. His monster throw of 89.02 metres set the crowd and record books alight at the 2008 Australian Athletics Championships and a similar throw in Beijing, could put him in medal contention.

Setting a new Australian record in shot put in February, Scott Martin is ranked 6th in the world and will step into the ring knowing he belongs.  He’ll compete alongside the national champion and Athens finalist, Justin Anlezark who is also throwing consistently, making it the first time two Aussie shot putters have been to an Olympics since Melbourne in 1956.

Benn Harradine is in a similar position to Martin in the discus throw.  Benn sits 11th in the world this year after setting a new Australian record in May, and the big man will need to throw close to his best to make the final. Benn is the first Indigenous thrower to represent Australia at an Olympic Games.

World Junior champion and the youngest member of our team, Dani Samuels will compete in the discus throw. Holding the junior Australian records in both shot put and discus, Samuels is an outstanding talent with a huge future in the sport. Making her Olympic debut, the 20 year old will be looking to throw her way into the final.

Sprints
On the track in Europe this year, 21 year old Sally McLellan improved her own Aussie record to 12.58 seconds and then bettered that mark two weeks later with a scintillating 12.53.  Sally is ranked in the top five for 2008 and is in the shape of her life. She’s taken some big scalps and run faster than she knew how to, so when she lines up in the Bird’s Nest Sally will be confident that she can mix it with anyone on the start line.

Our 400m individual representatives are John Steffensen, Joel Milburn and Sean Wroe. An event with great talent and depth, getting a spot was tough. That being said, the event features American superstar and defending champion Jeremy Wariner and an all star cast from around the globe, so a sub 45 will be required to get to the final. Milburn and Wroe have both run personal best times recently and Steffensen is a big time performer but it will be a tough ask. In the 4 x 400m relay, where team Australia are the defending silver medallists, these three runners will be joined by silver bullets Mark Ormrod and Clinton Hill, and youngster Dylan Grant.  Statistically, this team could go faster than they did in Athens and to medal they will probably need to, but in a relay anything can happen. If they make the final, fans will have plenty to scream about on the final night at the Bird’s Nest.

Tamsyn Lewis is also selected to compete in the 400m, her slightly less favoured event, amid a slew of international talent. In 2008 she bettered her long standing personal best in this event to put her hand up, but has in the lead up to Beijing, been focused on her more favoured event the 800m.

800m
Australia will field three athletes over the two lap race.  In the women’s event, Victorian’s Tamsyn Lewis and Madeleine Pape fly the flag, Lewis in her third Games and Pape a debutant.  Both have had stellar years, with Lewis taking on an outstanding international field to win the World Indoor Championships in Valencia and Pape breaking the 2 minute barrier for the first time at the Sydney Grand Prix and becoming one of only 5 Aussies to do so.

Another debutant, Lachlan Renshaw will be out there in the men’s event after bursting on to the scene as an international level half miler in Melbourne this year. The 21 year old’s speed will come in handy when it comes to tactical racing that will be needed to progress through the rounds.

1500m
We have two men and two women going round in the metric mile.  Commonwealth silver medallist Sarah Jamieson will be taking part in her third Olympics and she is coming into form at the perfect time.  In a twelve woman final, she is currently ranked 11th in the world this year, but four of the top 12 are Russian and they can only take 3 to the Bird’s Nest so that’s one big competitor who’s watching from home.  Lisa Corrigan ran bravely in the semi’s in Osaka, where she went out hard and was run down. She will have learnt valuable racing skills that will stand her in good stead to race with the best.

It will be interesting to say the least, when we watch youngsters Jeff Riseley and Mitch Kealey in the men’s 1500m.  Bound to be sit and kick races, both boys have the ability to progress through the rounds.

5000m
A feature event of the Games and a tactical race over 12 and a half laps.  Collis Birmingham and Craig Mottram should be strong contenders in this one.  Beijing will be Mottram’s third Olympics and the stage is set for him as one of the most recognised faces on the Australian team and a dominant figure on the track. Birmingham, while only 23 years old, is the 6th fastest Aussie ever and will learn more in the 13 or so minutes the race will take, than any training session, video or textbook will ever teach him.

Marathon
Australia has a strong history over the marathon.  The women’s event is the only distance running event Australia has a full compliment in, with Benita Johnson, Kate Smyth and Lisa Weightman. Johnson has been a giant killer in the past in winning the 2004 World Cross Country and as the Australian record holder in the event, will be looking to hang onto the monkey bars as long as she can and Smyth and Weightman are solid competitors in their own right.

Lee Troop will make his third Olympic appearance in the marathon.  In a race that is expected to be slow early, as the athletes preserve themselves for the humidity and pollution, a wind up race will play right into the hands of Troopy and a top ten finish would be a grand result.

Steeplechase
In its first appearance at the Games, the women’s steeplechase will have two contenders, Donna MacFarlane, who, after a disastrous shoe loss in Osaka, is in sensational form and World Championships and Commonwealth Games representative Victoria Mitchell. In international racing in May and June, Donna smashed the Australian record by 6 1/2 seconds and defeated the third and fourth placegetters from the 2007 World Championships putting herself in a strong position for a crack at the dais. Our male representative Youcef Abdi is also running into form, equalling his personal best in a time that will have him pushing for a place in the final. It’s a tough event where tactics and luck play a part, watch out for these athletes.

Race walks
While the absence of Nathan Deakes is a major blow, Australia has plenty of world class walkers.  In Osaka, Luke Adams finished 7th in what was an outstanding effort.  The men will have full representation in both the 20km with Adams, Chris Erickson and Jared Tallent, while Adams and Tallent will be joined by Adam Rutter in the 50km event. Tallent is a fan of Beijing, haven taken the test event out just a couple of months ago.

The 20km women’s event will feature Commonwealth champion and Athens bronze medallist Jane Saville alongside, Kellie Wapshott and Claire Woods. Again the heat and humidity will make this a tough event where technique and grit will be the deciding factors.

Jumps
In the long jump Australia will be represented by Bronwyn Thompson and Fabrice Lapierre.  Thompson has been highly ranked in the world, just missing the medals in fourth place in Athens and is one of our most experienced international competitors. Lapierre took the Commonwealth bronze in Melbourne and after some consistent 8m plus jumps will make his Olympic debut.

In the pole vault the world fears the Aussies and so they should.  Paul Burgess and Steve Hooker are two of the best vaulters in the world and ended 2006 ranked number 1 & 2 in the world.  Both boys can jump 6 metres on their day, and with Steve in career best form and Paul on the improve after injury complications forced him out of the domestic season, they should be in the mix. Tactics will play a big part but mark this final as one not to miss. Athletics Queensland Development Officer Alana Boyd will have the support of her Olympic credentialed family, her state and her country as she makes her Olympic debut at the Bird’s Nest. Her recently set best of 4.56m will put her close to the final.

Heptathlon
WA’s Kylie Wheeler is our sole representative in the multiple events at these Games and will take some confidence from her consistent performances throughout the domestic and international seasons. In what is one of the toughest events in the stadium, Wheeler will join some of the world’s great all rounders in action during the first two days of competition.

The athletes who will fly our flag in Beijing have been working for months and years to achieve their place on the team and perform at their very best on the biggest stage of their lives. It’s an exciting and tense time for them, their coaches, family, friends, supporters, and for the whole athletics community in Australia. But we just can’t wait to see them step up and make us proud as a nation by doing their very best on the day.

So welcome to athletics.com.au’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics, sit back and let us bring all of the Australian athletics action and insights to your computer.