The first of the Australian legs of the Continental Tour begins in the Nations capital on Thursday evening. Having already hosted an Area Permit Meet in late February, the venue and officials will be ready for the athlete’s best performances.
The Men’s Long Jump is highlighted by the John Boas duo with Henry Smith Chris Mitrevski jumping. Brandon Starc attempted 2.30 at the Summer Super Series event in late February and will be looking to try even higher this Thursday.
Hometown World Champion Kelsey Lee Barberis throwing the Javelin, having only thrown once since her World Championships, a 55m effort to win the ACT Championships. In the Women’s High jump, Nicola McDermott will face off against Alysha Burnett.
The Men’s Javelin Throw is a wide-open affair. World U20 Champion Nash Lowis, Liam O’Brien and Cameron Mcentyre are all in the field. The Women’s Long Jump was a close affair two weeks ago and will see the top 3 in Annie McGuire, Tay Clark, and Rellie Kaputin go against each other again.
The four hurdles races will all have their own storylines. The Men’s High Hurdles will see Nick Hough face off against Nick Andrews and Jacob McCory. Hough suffered his first defeat in over a year to Nick Andrews last week at the NSW Championships. Arguably the event that has risen the most this season, the Women’s 100m Hurdles, without Liz Clay in the field, will be Hannah Jones, Michelle Jenneke, Brianna Beahan Celeste Mucci battling out for the win.
The Men’s Long Hurdles, Chris Douglas, will be looking for a fast time and the crucial bonus points as he looks to qualify for Tokyo. He has recently returned from his USA base for the Australian domestic season. Lauren Boden, a 12 time Australian Champion in the 400m Hurdles, lead the field and returns to an athlete after officiating at the Summer Super Series event in Canberra two weeks ago.
Alex Beck is the form 400m runner of this year and will look to win and gain some bonus points towards Tokyo. The Women’s 400m, Bendere Oboya has shown she is the form athlete after taking the NSW Championships ahead of Anneliese Rubie-Renshaw last week.
Naa Anang, a revelation at the last Australian Championships in 2019, is on the start list for the Women’s 100m, but she will be facing the inform Hana Basic. In the Men’s, Jack Hale and Rohan Browning’s friendly rivalry will once again take centre stage.
Linden Hall shows fine form this season and will be the favourite in the Women’s 1500m. She is coming off an Area Record 1000m last week at the Box Hill Burn. The Men’s 1500m, sees a wide-open field, with Para World Record Holder Jarryd Clifford, and inform NSW athlete Tomas Palfrey.
The Men’s and Women’s 800m are the final events of the evening. The Women’s sees some emerging talent in Ellie Sanford, Hannah Cox and Gigi Maccagnini take on Australian Record Holder Catriona Bisset and Brittany Kaan.
The Men’s 800m, see’s 5 Australian representatives on the start line. Luke Mathews hasn’t raced since the Doha World Championships but has shown he can previously run fast in his first 800m of the year. Peter Bol won in Canberra two weeks ago, as did Jeff Riseley, Brad Mathas and Jack Lunn; however the inclusion of Jordan Williamsz, will ensure that it could be a fantastic finish to the Canberra Track Classic.
