ATHLETICS: The Australian Commonwealth Games Association has today confirmed a talented 45 athletes to the Australian team bound for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow (SCO).
 
Declared members of the team by Chef de Mission Steve Moneghetti in Melbourne earlier today, the talented squad of track and field charges is the first round of selected athletes who will join some of the most outstanding athletes in the world for the opening ceremony on 23 July 2014.
 
The Australian athletics team captain Sally Pearson (Qld, 100m, 100m hurdles) and her vice captain Kim Mickle (WA, javelin), who both won silver at the IAAF World Championships last year, headline the initial round of selections alongside their Moscow 2013 teammates Joshua Ralph (NSW, 800m), Collis Birmingham (Vic, 10,000m), Martin Dent (ACT, marathon), Nicholas Hough (NSW, 110m hurdles), Benn Harradine (Qld, discus), Melissa Breen (ACT, 100m), Zoe Buckman (Vic, 1500m), Jess Trengove (SA, marathon), Lauren Wells (ACT, 400m hurdles), Dani Samuels (NSW, discus) and Kathryn Mitchell (Vic, javelin) and IPC Athletics World Championships starters Richard Colman (Vic, T54 wheelchair 1500m), Madison de Rozario (WA, T54 wheelchair 1500m) and Angela Ballard (NSW, T54 wheelchair 1500m).
 
Joining them are a plethora of major championships debutants including Sean Roberts (SA, T37 cerebral palsy 100m), Ian Dewhurst (NSW, 400m hurdles), Joel Pocklington (Vic, pole vault), Damien Birkinhead (Vic, shot put), Paul Raison (SA, F42/44 amputee discus), Joshua Robinson (Qld, javelin), Jake Stein (NSW, decathlon), Ella Nelson (NSW, 200m), Morgan Mitchell (Vic, 400m), Brittany McGowan (Qld, 800m), Emily Brichacek (ACT, 5,000m), Eleanor Patterson (Vic, high jump), Brooke Stratton (Vic, long jump), Rae Anderson (NSW, T37/28 cerebral palsy long jump), Linda Leverton (Qld,triple jump), Lara Neilsen (Qld,hammer throw), Kelsey-Lee Roberts (ACT, javelin) and Sophie Stanwell (NSW, heptathlon), who will all compete at a multi-sport event for open age athletes the first time.
 
“It is great to see nominations which range from established stars like Sally Pearson, Kim Mickle and Dani Samuels to rising stars like Eleanor Patterson, Damien Birkinhead and Morgan Mitchell. This typifies what the Commonwealth Games are all about,” Moneghetti said.
 
“Nineteen of the 45 athletes announced for the Commonwealth Games today will take part in theirfirst major international championships and we are sure it will be an experience they will never forget.
 
“With a further significant number of nominations to come in June, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is really pleased that athletics has recommended such a large team. We look forward to building on the successes of Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010.”
 
“The initial selection of 45 athletes is a great start to what is shaping into one of the biggest teams we will ever send overseas. Congratulations to all those that have been officially selected by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association today,” Dion Russell, the Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors, said.

“In addition to the contingent of athletes announced today, there are more than 70 athletes who have achieved at least one Commonwealth Games B-Standard and will be considered for selection at the close of the Qualification Period on 1 June. This is a very positive result for our sport, and the Selectors and I look forward to adding new names to the list of athletics nominees in the coming months.”
 
This initial squad is the first of two scheduled announcements of confirmed selections to the Australian athletics team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The second will be made following final nominations to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association by Athletics Australia following the close of the Qualification Period on 1 June 2014.

Athletics Australia