#Glasgow2014 Preview: Athletics
Much of the attention for bleary-eyed WA fans tuning in to the Glasgow Games in the early hours will surround the fortunes of our track and field athletes as they take on the best of the Commonwealth at Hampden Park.
Although Hampden Park is expecting bumper crowds over the Games, it won’t come close to breaking its stadium attendance record, which stands at 149,415 spectators from a 1937 International football fixture between traditional foes, Scotland and England.
Hampden Park, at any other time, is the traditional home of Scottish football, and in 2002, the stadium hosted the European Cup Final, when the might of Real Madrid – led by a stunning goal from Frenchman Zinedine Zidane – earned a 2-1 win over Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen.
Over the course of the Glasgow Games however, Hampden Park will forfeit its football ancestry and transform into the focal point of seven days’ track and field action, before hosting the closing ceremony of the XX Commonwealth Games.
Within that period, will be highs, lows and everything in between, with eight Western Australian athletes set to compete on the hallowed turf.
Headlining the WA eight is WAIS champion Kim Mickle in the women’s javelin. Mickle is the gold medal favourite, following her 2013 heroics at the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Moscow, where she threw 66.60m for a silver medal against the world’s best.
The women’s javelin final is scheduled for Wednesday 30 July, which will beam to Perth television screens at 3.15am (Jul 31) as Mickle aims to collect a first Commonwealth Games title at her third attempt.
Mickle’s chief rivals will come in the form of South African reigning champion Sunette Viljoen, compatriot Kathryn Mitchell and England’s Goldie Sayers.
The women’s pole vault is another event set to capture the imagination, with WA fielding two competitors. WAIS siblings Liz and Vicky Parnov will both compete in their second Commonwealth campaigns, however it is the first time the pair will compete together for their country. Adding to the family intrigue, the vaulters are coached by their father, WAIS pole vault coach Alex Parnov, who guided Alana Boyd and Steve Hooker to gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
The women’s pole vault final will be hosted on Saturday August 2, with an unconfirmed schedule starting from 2.00am Sunday (Aug 3) morning for Perth viewers. Boyd will again be the gold medal favourite, whilst the Parnov sisters will be aiming for an upset. Athletes from; Canada, New Zealand and England all boast worthy competitors.
Dual Paralympian Madison de Rozario is set to make her first appearance at Commonwealth level, when she takes to the track for the women’s 1500m T54 wheelchair race. Qualifying is held on Tuesday July 29, with the final held in the evening session of Thursday July 31, from 2.20am Perth time (Aug 1).
In a competitive field, de Rozario is considered a genuine medal threat, and will line up with Australian teammate Angie Ballard, who herself has medal aspirations. Although a middle-distance event, an inside lane position is a must, meaning the 1500m is usually a sprint from start to finish.
Although the name Sally Pearson is synonymous in the women’s 100m hurdles, there will be no missing Western Australian competitor Shannon McCann, who turns heads not only through her speed, but via her penchant for flamboyant, coloured hair styles.
McCann takes to the Hampden Park track on July 31, and if successful in qualifying, will tackle the Commonwealth Games final on August 1, from 5.10am Perth time (Aug 2) almost certainly alongside Australia’s queen of the track.
Lyndsay Pekin is another athlete from the West making her Commonwealth Games debut, after she earned selection for the Australian women’s 4x400m relay squad.
Pekin and her Aussie teammates take on qualifying on August 1, and pending qualification will line-up for the final on August 2, from 2.50am Perth time (Aug 3). The relay is always one to watch, with baton change-overs notorious for mistakes that often cost medals, meaning there is no such thing as a certainty.
Western Australia will have an entrant in the women’s high jump in Glasgow, after Zoe Timmers received a call-up from Athletics Australia following a B-qualifying standard clearance over the course of the Australian domestic season.
Timmers is contesting her first Commonwealth Games campaign, and will compete on July 30, with the final to follow on August 1 from 1.05am Perth time (Aug 2).
Rounding out WA’s eight-strong track and field contingent is women’s long jump T37/38 debutant Ella Pardy. Pardy will similarly compete at Commonwealth level for the first time, with the direct final staged on Sunday July 27, from 9.30pm Perth time.