Australian distance star Craig Mottram has smashed his own Australian 3000m record by nearly five seconds to win in Liege, Belgium overnight.

At the same time, Vicky Parnov cleared 4.32m to set a new Australian Under 18 and Under 20 pole vault record in Germany.

Mottram’s performance was the highlight of a meet that saw eight Australians compete across a range of events. Reducing his record to 7:32.84 from the 7:37.30 he ran in Monaco in 2002.

Mottram made the race his own, winning by two and a half seconds. The win translates his outstanding road form to the track and clearly displays his continued improvement over the past six months.

Equally exciting, albeit with the future in mind, Perth wunderkind Vicky Parnov vaulted 4.32m to set a new Under 18 and Under 20 Australian record.

Jumping at the International Pole Vault meeting in Jockgrim, Germany, Parnov broke her own record of 4.30m set earlier this year.

Parnov finished second, on countback from American Kellie Suttle, and now sets her sights on the World Junior Championships in Beijing from 15-20 August.

At the same meet, Paul Burgess vaulted 5.83m but was upstaged by American world number one Brad Walker, who cleared 6.00m to take the win.

Walker is the first man over 6.00m since Burgess last year, the result reversing that from the Rome Golden Gala last weekend.

In other results in Liege:

Nick Bromley ran 1:49.79 to finish 16th overall in the 800m.

South Australian triple jumper Marat Saffiullin jumped a season’s best 15.97 to take fifth place.

Commonwealth Champion Scott Martin finished sixth in the discus with 57.48 metres.

Benita Johnson ran a season’s best 15:13.46 to finish ninth in the 5000m, whilst Eloise Wellings ran 15:32.13 to place twelfth.

Vaulters Steve Hooker and Dimitri Markov finished fifth and sixth respectively in the pole vault. Hooker cleared 5.66m and Markov 5.61m.

Athletics Australia