ATHLETICS: Three Australians will be looking for the best performance of their careers in Beijing's Birds Nest Stadium on Tuesday night at the IAAF World Championships.
Dani Samuels and Fabrice Lapierre are in the mix for World Championship medals, while young sprinter Anneliese Rubie runs in the 400m semi-finals.
Samuels, a dual Olympian and the 2009 world champion as a teenager, gets the field finals underway from 2100 AEST. Samuels has the fourth best throw in the world this year and is ready to produce a big one when it counts. Her 62.01 metres in qualifying has her seeded eighth.
“A lot of people struggle with qualifying. I’ve ticked it off and now I can get ready for the final. There is something a lot bigger there for the final. I feel really good and I can’t wait for then opportunity to come back,” Samuels said after qualifying.
Samuels has a personal best of 67.99m which is fifth best from the red-hot field.
Rubie runs in the first track event at 2105 AEST. She slashed her personal best from 52.20 seconds to 51.69 in the heat and she has nothing to lose from lane 2 in semi-final 1.
“I want to improve in the next round,” she said after qualifying. “I think I am in even better shape. To be honest, I’m stoked regardless. It’s just a bonus after only getting in to the championships late.”
The Australian long jump champion Lapierre opened his account in the qualifying round with an impressive 8.03m (w: +0.2). Two fouls followed, with the former Commonwealth and world indoor champion forced to endure an agonising wait before his spot in the final was confirmed.
“It’s a bit of a relief. I had to wait so long after a good first jump. It was the most nerve-wracking thing ever. Just waiting and waiting, and then finally it was done. Thank god for that,” Lapierre said.
“I should have made better adjustments to my foul jumps, they must have been very close to legal. They were good jumps. I’m happy with that and looking forward to the final.”
Lapierre's season best is 8.16m and his personal best of 8.40m is ranked fifth of all 12 jumpers.
To date the best result in the Championships for Australia is Dane Bird-Smith with eighth in the 20km walk.
AOC with thanks to Athletics Australia
