News02 Mar 2007


Mottram prevails on home soil - World Athletics Tour is launched

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Craig Mottram winning at the 2006 IAAF WAT meeting in Melbourne (© Getty Images)

Melbourne, AustraliaTwotime World Cup champion Craig Mottram showed he grows ever stronger and smarter as he exacted a little revenge on the Kenyans crushing Boniface Songok for a popular home town victory in the 5000m at the Telstra A-Series Melbourne Track Classic.

In his first race in Melbourne since he finished runner-up to Kenya's Augustine Choge in the Commonwealth Games there this time last year, Mottram displayed tactical maturity and the muscle to execute his plan at the opening meeting of the IAAF World Athletics Tour 2007.

With the large, vocal crowd on their feet at Olympic Park, the 2005 World Championship bronze medallist Mottram ran 13:32.6, a modest time by his own standards but he won impressively by some 25 metres after a tremendous final kilometre in 2:20 and a particularly good last 200m sprint which left Songok a distant second in 13:36.77.

Mottram first led with four laps remaining, but Songok and Tanzanian Dickson Marwa took turns at the front. The tall Australian then regained the lead with 600m to go and turned the screws on his opponents.

"He (Songok) wasn't expecting it 550 metres out and that's when I put on the gap and you really have to work hard to close it and then he ran out of puff," said Mottram, who lost twice to Songok in Europe during 2006.

"I've been racing in Europe for five years now and they've been doing that to me at every race. I've got to get better at it and that comes with practice.”

"I did it in Seville two years ago and won, I tried it against Haile Gebrselassie and didn't win, and I did it against Kenenisa Bekele at the World Cup last year and won.”

"Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. If I can get so good at it that I can beat anybody then that's a good plan."

Two break Australian Mile record

In warm, humid conditions Canberra-based Lisa Corrigan hatched a good plan of her own to win the women's Mile from world ranked 1500m runner Sarah Jamieson, both smashing the Australian record set by Margaret Crowley at 4:25.84 in Monte Carlo in 1996.

Jamieson, 31, who broke Crowley's national 1500m record with a time of 4:00.93 in Stocholm last year, had also broken Crowley's national indoor record only last month with her 4:28.03 in Boston.

She tried to run away with the race last night, but Corrigan, 23, mounted a strong last-lap sprint to haul in the Victorian and win in 4:22.66 from Jamieson (4:23.40) and Tasmanian steeplechaser Donna MacFarlane (4:33.52).

"I can't believe I've got the Australian Record. It's a fantastic feeling," Corrigan enthused. "Just in that last lap I started catching her and catching her and I knew I could do it and with 200m to go I thought, 'I can catch her now'."

Hooker prevails in PV battle

With four men who have cleared six metres in the field, the Pole Vault had been expected to yield something potentially great, but it was Melbourne's Steve Hooker, whose personal best is "only" 5.96m (Berlin 2006) who flew to victory with a leap of 5.81m after a long, tense and tactical battle.

Hooker won the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup and was merit ranked No.1 in the world last year.

"I'm just jumping what I need to win at the moment. I now get to hold my world ranking until at least the middle of the year, so I'm happy with that," Hooker said.

"I'm keeping a little in the tank at the moment, waiting for (the Osaka World Championships in) August when it really counts.''

He defeated reigning World Indoor champion Brad Walker, whose second-placed 5.71m was also an Osaka World Championship A-qualifier. West Australian Paul Burgess, winner of the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart last year, was third on 5.50m ahead of America's Athens Olympic silver medallist Toby Stevenson (5.35m).

Dmitri Markov, the 2001 Edmonton World champion - and the second higher vaulter in history with his Australian record 6.05m - struggled with a chronic foot injury and managed to clear his opening height of 5.35 on the third attempt, before failing at 5.50m. He said Melbourne would be his farewell meet.

Crawford prevails in 200 while Merritt takes 400 win

In the Peter Norman 200m, named in honour of the late Australian silver medallist who shared the podium with Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the civil rights protest at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, the reigning Olympic 200m champion Shawn Crawford hung on for a narrow victory over fellow American LaShawn Merritt.

"I’m happy. I guess everyone in Melbourne prayed for me, because I made it to the finish line. I felt everyone coming up on me, I was dying. I’m coming off 60m indoor racing," said Crawford, who remains undefeated so far this year.

Fuelled on pride, Crawford won in 20.32 into a slight (-0.4m/s) breeze from last year's No. 3 ranked 400m performer Merritt (20.38), and Australians, the 2005 World 100m semi-finalist Joshua Ross (20.78), 2005 World 400m finalist John Steffensen (20.79, personal best) and 2005 World 200m finalist Patrick Johnson (20.87).

Merritt backed up impressively to win the 400m in 45.31, claiming the lead only in the last 20 metres from Victoria's Sean Wroe (45.56) and Athens Olympic 4x400m relay silver medallist Mark Ormrod (46.10).

Three-time Australian 100m title winner Josh Ross also backed up for a better run and a victory over 100m in 10.22 (-1.1m/s) ahead of Nigerian Anthony Alozie (10.39), Athens Olympian Adam Miller (10.45) and national record-holder (at 9.93) Patrick Johnson  who was a well-beaten fourth in 10.47.

Sprint / hurdle double for Perry

World champion Michelle Perry notched a fine double, winning her specialty 100m Hurdles in 12.82 in a meet record and World Championships A-qualifier despite a headwind (-0.7m/s).

Queenslander Sally McLellan also bettered the meet record with her runner-up 13.04 but she remains outside Pam Ryan's national record of 12.93 set in 1972.

"My hurdles technique was 'off', I will have to go away and work on a few things," McLellan said. "I don't want to keep thinking about the record because it won't happen if you keep thinking about it."

She has another opportunity to get it right next week at the Telstra Selection Trials and 85th Australian Championships in Brisbane, March 9-11.

And the rest…

Jet-lagged from his trip fresh from winning the US Indoor title, American giant Christian Cantwell improved through the rounds to finish with a meet record and World A-qualifier 20.79m last night, toppling Victoria's Scott Martin (20.19m).

Kenyans did have something to smile about when Shedrack Korir triumphed over a willing field with his 3:37.37 in the 1500m. Britain's Andrew Baddeley was encouraged by his 3:38.13 ahead of fellow World B-qualifiers Jeremy Roff (3:38.20), Arkansas-based Mark Fountain (3:38.39), Sydney steeplechaser Youcef Abdi (3:38.48) and New Zealand's Gareth Hyett (3:38.63).

A fine breakthrough performance on the track came from Melbourne student Jeff Riseley, 20, a superbly fluid mover who dropped his personal best from 1:48 to 1:46.88 in winning the 800m from the two-time and reigning Australian champion Nick Bromley (1:47.40) and Kenya's Cosmos Rono (1:47.43).

Australian Benita Johnson, who is setting herself for the London marathon in April, clocked 5000m in 15:36.45 but didn't have the legs to hold off US runner Lauren Fleshman, who won in 15:27.61. Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan was third in 16:04.39.

Australia's World Junior champion Robbie Crowther, who is coached at the Australian Institute of Sport by Craig Hilliard (Sydney Olympic silver medallist Jai Taurima's mentor), won the Long Jump with 7.85m (nil wind) from training partner Tim Parravicini (7.78m) and Sydney's John Thornell (7.72m) as America's Athens Olympic silver medallist John Moffitt (7.67m) was a disappointed fourth, ahead of World Youth champion Chris Noffke (7.67m) on a count-back.

Mike Hurst (Sydney Daily Telegraph) for the IAAF


 

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