ATHLETICS: Australia's Regan Lamble and Beki Lee have clocked personal best times to finish in 17th and 28th places respectively in the women's 20 kilometre walk around the Mall in central London.

The event was won by Russian Elena Lashmanova in a new world record of 1:25.02. Lashmanova had reeled in a 17 second deficit to compatriot Olga Kaniskina over the last 2km to win by seven seconds. Lamble, 20, clocked 1:30.08 and Lee 1:32.14.

The other Australian in the field, Claire Tallent, was disqualified after 12km just hours after her husband Jared Tallent won silver in the men's 50km walk.

Tallent, who was 28th in the 20km event in Beijing four years ago and won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, cruised through the first two kilometres in 31st place before moving to 13th by the 4km mark and tenth by the time the field had gotten through 8km. But she earned the ire of the judges and was disqualified for an illegal technique.

It was a great Olympic debut for both Lamble and Lee, who train toeghetr at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra alongside Tallent, and under the guidance of Brent Vallance.

Lamble said the vibe around the Mall was fantastic and made it much easier to push through the pain.

“It was an amazing race, I think probably the PB came from the atmosphere itself,” Lamble said.

 

“I've been in relatively good shape this year but I've had a few ups and downs and it's really good to translate the good parts of training into my race.

 

“It was amazing out on the course, so many Aussies and a few familiar faces in the crowd, an amazing atmosphere.”

 

The graphic design student said she was already looking towards Rio in four years time.

 

“(I’m) Looking forward to Rio now, I'm 20 years-old and still have lot of things to work on and I need to keep developing,” she said.

 

Lee joined her teammate in praising the setting for the race and said she was happy with her performance.

 

“That was a wonderful experience, very overwhelming for a first Olympics,” Lee, 25, said.

 

“My prep has been pretty bad, I've had a few injuries and niggles which has been tough but a PB, this is what an Olympics does for you.

“I've finished top 30 which is a bonus, I've ticked all the boxes I wanted to tick today.”

The event was won by Russian Elena Lashmanova in a new world record of 1:25.02. Lashmanova had reeled in a 17 second deficit to compatriot Olga Kaniskina over the last 2km to win by seven seconds. Lamble, 20, clocked 1:30.08 and Lee 1:32.14.

The other Australian in the field, Claire Tallent, was disqualified after 12km just hours after her husband Jared Tallent won silver in the men's 50km walk.

Tallent, who was 28th in the 20km event in Beijing four years ago and won silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, cruised through the first two kilometres in 31st place before moving to 13th by the 4km mark and tenth by the time the field had gotten through 8km. But she earned the ire of the judges and was disqualified for an illegal technique.

It was a great Olympic debut for both Lamble and Lee, who train together at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra alongside Tallent, and under the guidance of Brent Vallance.

Lamble said the vibe around the Mall was fantastic and made it much easier to push through the pain.

“It was an amazing race, I think probably the PB came from the atmosphere itself,” Lamble said.

“I've been in relatively good shape this year but I've had a few ups and downs and it's really good to translate the good parts of training into my race.

“It was amazing out on the course, so many Aussies and a few familiar faces in the crowd, an amazing atmosphere.”

The graphic design student said she was already looking towards Rio in four years time.

“(I’m) Looking forward to Rio now, I'm 20 years-old and still have lot of things to work on and I need to keep developing,” she said.

Lee joined her teammate in praising the setting for the race and said she was happy with her performance.

“That was a wonderful experience, very overwhelming for a first Olympics,” Lee, 25, said.

“My prep has been pretty bad, I've had a few injuries and niggles which has been tough but a PB, this is what an Olympics does for you.

“I've finished top 30 which is a bonus, I've ticked all the boxes I wanted to tick today.”

Dave Lyall in London
Olympics.com.au