ATHLETICS: Eloise Wellings, Genevieve LaCaze and Madeline Heiner-Hills have again rewritten Australia’s record books as they stormed into the final of the women’s 5000m.
In what has been a remarkable few days for the Australian trio, Wellings recorded the best ever Olympic result by an Australian in the 10,000m final to finish 10th while Heiner-Hills and LaCaze became the first two Australians to ever qualify for the women’s Olympic steeplechase final and set personal bests to finish seventh and ninth respectively.
Now Australia will be represented in the women’s Olympic 5000m for the first time in a three-pronged assault after Wellings, LaCaze and Hills each produced stunning runs this morning at the Olympic Stadium.
Wellings finished sixth in heat two to record the best time of the Australians and be the sixth fastest overall qualifier with a time of 15:19.02 – which was quicker than the winning time in heat one.
Backing up after a gruelling 3000m steeplechase final yesterday, LaCaze finished right behind Wellings in seventh in a personal best time of 15:20.45, while Hills finished sixth in the first heat of the morning in 15:21.33.
LaCaze and Wellings embraced after their heat as they celebrated joining Hills in becoming the first Australian women to reach the Olympic 5,000m final.
“It’s just so exciting, especially for distance running in Australia,” Wellings said.
“I’m rooming with Gen in the village and last night before we went to bed we said to each other we don’t want this to be our last race because we are having so much fun.
“It’s a reward for all three of us that the hard work is paying off.”
A jubilant LaCaze said she was “emotional wreck” after her super performance in yesterday’s steeplechase final, where she and Hills both ran personal bests to secure top-10 finishes.
“Maybe I’m still running on adrenaline,” LaCaze said.
“Let’s just hope I can keep it going for the final.
“Knowing that my training partner was right there beside me, I knew we could do it and we gave each other a lift during the race.
“It was really tough to back up because I was an emotional wreck. I probably cried my body weight in water.”
Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana, who smashed the 10,000m world record on the opening day of the athletics competition, again blitzed the field in heat two to record the fastest qualifying time of 15:04.35 – more than 13 seconds faster than the next best time.
The women’s 5000m was first run at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
David Taylor
olympics.com.au
