Joshua Ross improves to 10.08 in Brisbane (© Getty Images)
Josh Ross is stylish and understated in everything he does away from the track, but put him onto the fast lane and he is electrifying. To emphasise the point, the big Sydney sprinter ran the fastest time ever by an Australian on home soil to win his fourth consecutive 100m title at the 85th Australian Championships - and then performed a victory dance he called "the electric boogaloo".
Ross improves to 10.08
"I'm definitely looking to do it again in Japan (at the World Championships in Osaka). I'm looking to 'bust me the robot' again. I think I'm the only athlete in the world who does it," Ross, 26, said after winning the race in a personal best 10.08 (+1.9m/s), a World A-qualifier to back up the 10.10 (+1.7) he ran in his semi two hours earlier.
Ross defeated fellow indigenous Australian, the national record-holder Patrick Johnson (10.27) convincingly in the final, although Johnson had threatened with an Osaka A-qualiying 10.21 in their semi-final. Adam Miller, Johnson's training partner at the Australian Institute of Sport, won the other semi in 10.17 (+0.9) but finished third in the final in 10.29, ahead of Melbourne junior Aaron Rouge-Serret (10.39).
In the comical post-race routine which has won over Australian crowds in recent seasons, Ross mimicked what he termed "electric currents through my arms and finished off with the heart beat" which broke the tension of the final and brought gales of laughter from the large audience.
He may play the clown, but 84kg and 185cm tall Ross is nobody's fool. He was angry at missing the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 100m final in March last year and then took the risk of switching coaches from Tony Fairweather, who had guided him to three national titles and a semi-final berth at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, and moving to relatively unknown Sydneysider, Emil Rizk.
"I'd love to have been in this shape at the Commonwealth Games," said Ross, who managed only 10.28 and watched from the grandstand as Asafa Powell won the final in 10.03 from Olusoji Fasuba (10.11) and Marc Burns (10.17).
"I was devastated to miss the Games final, but I've got bigger and better things on my horizon now. My training now is totally different than before, it's so much more intense. I'm working harder than ever in my life.
"I've got to take my hat off to the World record-holder and the top guys. They're so fit and I understand that now. I don't believe I'm fully fit yet. I'm only about 70 per cent fit.
"But tonight I basically showed I can keep backing up the fast runs. That's what you've got to do against the world. I think this performance shows my potential. It shows that I can be, not just with them, but in front of them."
He intends to back up and contest the 200m on Sunday in which there will be another much-anticipated showdown with Johnson, a 200m finalist at the Helsinki World Championships.
Walker steals world lead with 5.95
American Brad Walker was superb in winning the Australian Pole Vault title with a great second-attempt clearance of 5.95m, the world's leading leap this year and an Osaka A-qualifier of course. He opened at 5.70m which he cleared at his second attempt, then passed to 5.80m which he also made on the second effort.
Australian Steve Hooker (5.50) and another American, Toby Stevenson (tied for second also at 5.50m) and World No.2 merit ranked Australian Paul Burgess (5.35m) were disappointed at being reduced to mere spectators as Walker failed in three attempts at 6.04m.
McLellan cruises to third 100m title
The perfect conditions also favoured local Queenslander Sally McLellan who won her third 100m title in a personal best 11.23 (+1.8), a World Championships A-qualifier which broke the national championships meet record of 11.25 set in 1997 by Australian record-holder Melinda Gainsford-Taylor.
McLellan is now fourth fastest Australian ever, behind Gainsford-Taylor (11.12), Kerry Johnson (11.19) and Raelene Boyle (11.20A).
The happy surprise in the final came from Papua New Guinea's Mae Koime, who ran a National record 11.37 for the silver medal and a Worlds B-qualifying time. Crystal Attenborough from Darwin placed third in 11.49 ahead of Brisbane hurdler Fiona Cullen (11.59).
McLellan certainly now has the speed on the flat needed to challenge Pam Ryan's national 100m hurdles record on Sunday. Ryan's time of 12.93 has stood since 1972. Ryan's best 110m flat time was 11.50A in her quarter-final at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the Games at which she won the silver medal in the 80m Hurdles behind fellow Australian, Maureen Caird.
In tactical battle, Corrigan takes first national title
Lisa Corrigan showed she had overcome health setbacks when she defeated World ranked Victorian Sarah Jamieson to win her first national senior championship.
Only a year ago Corrigan's weight had dropped to 43kg and she said she was on the verge of anorexia, but guided by her coach Dick Telford she is now back to a comparatively sturdy 48kg and is looking superb on the track.
Corrigan, 22, won a tactical battle in 4:15.25 from Jamieson (4:15.91), both women securing their place on the plane to Osaka with these Australian titles doubling as the Telstra Selection Trials. Georgie Clarke was third in 4:22.70.
"I can't describe it. It's just fantastic," Corrigan said of her national crown. "I didn't think it would come so soon. It's really given me the confidence now to keep going and become the best.
"I want to get back into training and really give it a shot at the World Championships. I'm probably not quite up in the medals yet, but it would be good to make a final, that would be fantastic."
Elsewhere...
US-based Victorian Mark Fountain won the men's 1500m in 3:42.31 and also secured his place to Osaka. Paul Hoffman (3:42.97) and Jeremy Roff (3:42.88) filled the minors.
"I did one of my biggest weeks in training last week, running almost 160km, so it's been good to win nationals without having to peak for it," Fountain said.
Jarrod Bannister, 22, a powerful 90kg thrower born in Townsville in north Queensland, won his first national javelin title with his second-round 83.70m, a Worlds A-qualifier which also broke the meet record.
Bannister, coached by Gary Calvert, had fine back-up throws of 78.93m and 79.25m which were also superior to the second-placed fellow Queenslander Joshua Robinson (78.71m, Osaka B-qualifier). New Zealand's Stuart Farquhar (77.33m) took the bronze medal ahead of Japan's Kazuki Yamamoto (75.03m).
The other great thrower in action was American giant, Christian Cantwell, who won the Shot Put with his sixth-round best of 19.92m. Australian record-holder Justin Anlezark was second with 18.55m with Clay Cross (18.21m) third.
Commonwealth champion Bronwyn Thompson, a Brisbane paediatric physiotherapist, delighted her home crowd by winning the national Long Jump title with a windy 6.63m (+2.9m/s).
Melbourne's Sean Wroe won his first national 400m title with a comfortable 45.80 ahead of Kurt Mulcahy (46.36), the extremely talented schoolboy from the one-time hippy haven of Mullumbimby in northern NSW.
Tasmania's Donna MacFarlane won the 3000m steeplechase with a World Championships A-qualifying time of 9:34.21, also a meet record.
Mike Hurst (Sydney Daily Telegraph) for the IAAF
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