News02 Feb 2006


Johnson reaffirms Melbourne medal credentials – Australian Champs, Day One

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Benita Johnson on the way to 10,000m victory at the 2006 Australian Championships (© Getty Images)

In the cool "southerly buster" which blew over the most powerful sprinters, slender Benita Johnson asserted her Commonwealth Games medal claim in winning the 10,000m at the first day of the 84th Telstra Australian Championships in Sydney today.

Bring on Radcliffe and the rest

The 2003 World Cross Country champion showed she is regaining her finest form by clocking 32:33.09 in difficult conditions on the first day of Australian titles meet which double as the major selection trial for the Games in Melbourne next month.

It was a case of "bring on Paula Radcliffe" after last night's confidence-booster. "I'm the underdog but I'd love nothing more than to beat her (England's World Marathon champion, Radcliffe) on home soil," Johnson said. "I'm really looking forward to racing her and I know when I get in the best shape I'm in, I've got a chance of beating her. I'm going there (Melbourne) to try to win the race and get a gold medal on the track."

Radcliffe, the Commonwealth 5000m title holder and World Record holder for the Marathon, but she has said she would contest only the 10,000m in Melbourne, whereas Johnson hopes also to be selected for the 5000m.

Of course Johnson does not presume a two-horse race at the Games, mindful that the top Commonwealth runner in last year's World Championship 10,000m in Helsinki was Kenyan veteran Edith Masai, who ran fifth in 30:30.26 while Radcliffe placed ninth (30:42.75) and Johnson struggled back in 19th place in 31:55.15.

The Kenyans and Kimberley Smith, if she can recover from the leg injury she sustained at the recent New Zealand Championships, will also be major medal threats.

Pittman reconsiders double?

Jana Pittman brought into question the viability of her own plan to chase a 400m sprint and 400m Hurdles double at the Commonwealth Games after winning her heat of the 400m.

The 2003 World Champion at 400m Hurdles has been given dispensation by Athletics Australia to bypass her parade event at the nationals which signifies she has in effect been pre-selected to defend her Commonwealth title. But Pittman was not thrilled by her 400m flat time of 52.84 even though she was the fastest qualifier for Saturday's final.
"Hopefully I will run 51 in the final, but it truly depends - if I don't run faster than that, there is no point running the event at the Games," Pittman said. "I have got to run faster than 51 a couple of weeks before the Games (which start in mid-March). If not there is no point running both for the double at the Commonwealths.”

"Being realistic, I think to win the Commonwealth Games you need to run as close to 50 as possible because it's a fast track with an electric crowd. I won't jeopardise my 400m Hurdles (which follow the 400 sprint).''

Benita Johnson's younger sister Caitlin Willis was second fastest qualifier for the 400m final in 53.41, followed by Sydney Olympic 800m semi-finalist Tamsyn Lewis (53.60).

Johnson, Ross, Shirvington prepare for sprint show-down

Patrick Johnson looked comfortable winning his heat of the 100m in the fastest time of the opening round, 10.46 against a 2.3m/s wind. "It's all about my relaxed running. I'm not into power running, so it was good to run that quick into a headwind like that," Johnson said.

Two-time defending champion Josh Ross arrived sporting a new 60-point diamond stud earring. He was second fastest (10.57) into Friday's semis, ahead of Matt Shirvington (10.79). Daniel Batman, who ran a slightly wind-assisted 20.29 in the Telstra A-Series in Canberra on January 26, withdrew from the 100m to save himself for something special in Sunday's 200m.

World Junior Championship sprint bronze medallist Sally McLellan, a teenager better regarded as a hurdler, led the women’s 100m qualifiers in 11.89, although 35-year-old Adelaide mother-of-two, Tania Van Heer-Murphy, has mounted an inspired comeback. She won her heat by a wide margin in 12.12 and looks capable of returning to the Commonwealth Games arena. Van Heer-Murphy won the 100 bronze medal at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games in which she also collected a gold medal in both of Australia's relay teams.

Tenth title for Rendell

Sydney's 17-year-old Dani Samuels, the 2005 World Youth Champion at Discus and bronze medallist in the Shot Put, secured her place in Melbourne with a huge personal best throw of 15.98m to finish second in the Shot behind Tongan Ana Po'uhila (16.43).

Canberra school teacher Stuart Rendell, 33, won his 10th national hammer throw championship with a fine throw of 76.33m to also qualify for the Melbourne Games team. "Ten in a row, it was a bit of a nmovelty, but now it's done it's kind of neat,'' Rendell admitted.

Only fellow hammer thrower, the late Dick Leffler (12 national titles) and triple jumper Andrew Murphy (11 titles) have sustained longer unbroken winning streaks.

Mike Hurst (Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Australia) for the IAAF

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