National record holder Catriona Bisset is among a host of Australian runners breathing a sigh of relief after several Olympic track and field selection arguments were settled.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced on Monday another 55 track and field athletes selected to compete in Paris next month, finalising a 75-strong team.
Selectors faced a painstaking task in picking the women’s 800m, 1500m and 5000m teams, as well as the men’s 1500m runners, given the number of athletes who had hit the entry requirements exceeded the number of spots available.
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Wide World of Sports revealed exclusively last week that 18-year-old prodigy Cameron Myers had lost out to Oliver Hoare, Stewart McSweyn and Adam Spencer in his bid for men’s 1500m selection. That was confirmed by the AOC on Monday.
It was also confirmed on Monday that Bisset would join the already-selected Claudia Hollingsworth and Abbey Caldwell in the women’s 800m, meaning Bendere Oboya, a 400m runner at the Tokyo Olympics who’s since turned to the two-lap event, has failed to earn selection for the Paris Games.
From left: Linden Hall, Georgia Griffith, Lauren Ryan and Catriona Bisset. Getty Images
Jessica Hull, who had already been selected for the women’s 1500m, will be joined at the Stade de France by Linden Hall and Georgia Griffith, who have outmuscled Sarah Billings for a spot on the team.
And selectors have picked Rose Davies, Izzi-Batt-Doyle and Lauren Ryan in the women’s 5000m. They opted against picking Jenny Blundell, who could have been one of three athletes selected after qualifying via world rankings. Hull hit the 5000m entry standard within the qualification period, but had decided to only race the 1500m in Paris. Ryan will contest the 5000m-10,000m double.
Check out the 75-strong team by clicking here!
Among the other track and field athletes announced on the team on Monday were world champion pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, world-class javelin trio Kelsey-Lee Barber, Mackenzie Little and Kathryn Mitchell, 100m sprinters Rohan Browning, Ella Connolly and Bree Masters, and decathlete Ash Moloney, who won bronze at the postponed Tokyo Olympics.
The 75-strong team is the second-biggest Australian athletics team ever assembled for an Olympics, behind the team picked for the Sydney 2000 Games.
Jessica Hull competing at last year’s world championships in Budapest. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Thirty athletes will make their Olympic debut, 19 will return for their second Games, five will feature at their third Games and two women, Genevieve Gregson and Kathryn Mitchell, will become four-time Olympians.
“I am thrilled to announce the final 55 athletes for the athletics team for Paris,” said AOC chef de mission Anna Meares.
“The athletics team is the largest of any sport and they will contribute greatly to the positive environment of the broader Australian Olympic team.
“Today’s announcement finalises our Australian Olympic team at 460 athletes.
“I am so excited for Australians to see this team represent them with pride and determination in under three weeks’ time.”
The athletics competition will run from August 1-11, beginning with the men’s and women’s 20km race walks.