Peter Bol books ticket to Tokyo with Olympic qualifying run at Oceania Invitational 1 on the Gold Coast

800m ace Peter Bol has secured himself a ticket to a second Olympic Games with an Olympic qualifying run at the Oceania Invitational on the Gold Coast.

It has been a near perfect season for the Western Australia with five wins from six races including the Australian title in April. The only thing that has eluded the 27-year-old was the automatic Olympic qualifying time.

That all changed at the Oceania Invitational on the Gold Coast, Saturday evening, as he again blitzed the field. Stopping the clock in 1:44.88, shaving half a second off his seasons best, Bol booked a spot for a second Olympic Games.

With just 24 days left of the Tokyo qualifying period, the win was a relief for Bol.

“Usually after races I feel really tired, but today I ran so relaxed and I feel really good. All season, I was so tense chasing the Olympic qualifier, but today I thought, let’s just run like we do in training,” Bol said.

“My last race in Box Hill, I was so tired of chasing it. Nationals were more relaxed, but having that break and coming here with fresh legs and a fresh mind, has done me well.”

In other competition Angus Armstrong continued his own Olympic qualifying hunt winning the pole vault with a 5.10 metre clearance. Liz Parnov took out the women’s competition with a 4.20m jump. Olivia Gross who has spent the last month training at WAIS finished third.

Brianna Beahan stopped the clock in the 100m hurdles in a time of 13.10 seconds to finish second. In the Ambulant Discus, Tokyo bound Sarah Edmiston threw 36.80m to finish as the top female competitor.

In under 20 news. Taylah Cruttenden continued to impress finishing fourth in a stacked 100m field with a time of 11.49. While in the havelin Mia Gordon threw 47.95 metres for fifth.