Jake Stein on the way to a World Youth best in the Octathlon in Lille (© Getty Images)
Athletics Australia is very excited to today announce an initial Australian Spark team of 57 for the IAAF World Junior Championships, Barcelona, Spain, 10-15 July.
The team is on track to become the biggest ever, including the 1996 event hosted in Sydney, with two additional athletes and selected discus starter Jake Stein already laying claim to qualifiers for the heptathlon and decathlon ahead of their Selection Trial in just over one week.
“The tireless work and fantastic skill of personal coaches has been enormous and we congratulate them and their athletes,” Sara Mulkearns, Athletics Australia Junior High Performance Manager, said.
“The size and quality of this team is a direct consequence of a concerted effort to improve and strengthen the development programs we have at Athletics Australia. The Target Talent Program, a strong mentor program with the Under 19 Talent Squad and a broader and improved National Youth Event Coach Program is beginning to reap rewards.
“The significant increase in team size in comparison with previous championships excitingly highlights that our pathway program for developing the next breed of Flame athletes is on track to prove successful for the next Olympic cycle. Australian track and field is on the up and that’s a thrilling prospect as we look beyond London.
“As well as the athletes and coaches, we congratulate athlete families for the work they have done to date and look forward to sharing the next few months with them. Through collaboration between athletes, their coaches, parents and Athletics Australia we are hopeful that these results domestically will be transferred onto the track and field in Barcelona.
“I also sincerely thank the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and Athletics International for their continued contribution to our programs. Your belief in what we are doing has assisted in getting all selected athletes onto the Australian Spark team.”
Excitingly for the future of Australian track and field, 62 athletes achieved a qualifying performance in the allocated selection period, which is an increase from 38 in 2010 and 43 in 2008. Additionally, the number of performances at or better than the qualifying standard has dramatically increased. In 2012, 238 qualifying performances were recorded, in comparison with 152 in 2008 and 97 in 2010.
The Spark team boasts 24 athletes who took part in the Under 19 Talent Squad in 2011, and 18 athletes from the Target Talent Program established last year including Steven Solomon, Liz Parnov, Brooke Stratton and Damien Birkinhead.
Twenty-six athletes earned automatic selection by achieving the qualifier, equal to top-16 in the world, and winning the national crown at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships. A further 22 athletes medalled in their respective events and had qualifying performances to their name to earn discretionary selections.
Australian team for Barcelona 2012 -
GIRLS (32):
100m: Carla Williams (Qld), Ashleigh Whittaker (Vic)
200m: Monica Brennan (Vic), Williams
400m: Morgan Mitchell (Vic), Abbey de la Motte (Tas)
1500m: Katelyn Simpson (Qld), Jenny Blundell (NSW)
100m hurdles: Michelle Jenneke (NSW), Abbie Taddeo (NSW)
400m hurdles: Sara Klein (NSW), Tessa Consedine (Vic)
3000m steeplechase: Tess Potezny (SA)
10,000m walk: Rachel Tallent (Vic), Jessica Pickles (Qld)
Pole vault: Paris McCathrion (Vic), Liz Parnov (WA)
High jump: Kaitlin Morgan (Tas), Kate Atwell (Qld)
Long jump: Brooke Stratton (Vic), Margaret Gayen (SA)
Triple jump: Josie Nichol (NSW), Stratton
Discus throw: Taylah Sengul (NSW), Keshia McGrath-Volau (Qld)
Hammer throw: Danielle McConnell (Tas), Mikayla Genge (Tas)
Javelin: Wasie Toolis (Qld), Monique Cilione (Vic)
4x100m relay: Williams, Whittaker, Brennan, Brooke Pires-Paranzee (WA), Ella Nelson (NSW)
4x400m relay: Mitchell, de la Motte, Emily Coppins (NSW), Ella Solin (WA), Sarah Carli (NSW)
BOYS (25):
100m: Ben Jaworski (NSW), Hugh Donovan (Qld)
200m: Jaworski, Donovan
400m: Steve Solomon (NSW), Jarryd Buchan (Vic)
800m: Rob Lister (NSW), Joel Hogarth (Vic)
110m hurdles: Nicholas Hough (NSW)
400m hurdles: Gatkauth Chol (Qld)
10,000m walk: Blake Steele (SA), Brad Aiton (Qld)
Pole vault: Brodie Cross (Vic)
High jump: Brandon Starc (NSW)
Shot put: Damien Birkinhead (Vic)
Discus throw: Mitchell Cooper (Qld), Jake Stein (NSW)
Hammer throw: Jack Dalton (Vic), Robert Johnston (Qld)
Javelin: Luke Cann (Vic), William White (Qld)
4x100m relay: Jaworski, Donovan, Hough, Simon Greig (Vic), Alexander Hartmann (Qld), Matthew Bertacco (Vic)
4x400m relay: Solomon, Buchan, Max Waldron (Tas), Keith Rodrigo (Vic), Jay Meaney (Qld)
Athletics Australia for the IAAF
