Parnov Sets Olympic A-Qualifier and New PB

WAIS pole vaulter Liz Parnov has set an Olympic A-Qualifier after clearing 4.50m at a Perth domestic meet last Friday night.

Parnov had earlier required a third attempt at 4.10m before finding a rich vein of form to pass 4.30m and then a personal best height of 4.50m, setting her first qualifying mark in the process.

At the Sydney Track Classic a day later, Alana Boyd continued her strong run with a seventh qualifying standard in winning the women’s event with a best clearance of 4.60m. Fellow WAIS vaulter Vicky Parnov cleared 4.30m to keep herself in contention for London, despite being marginally shy of the 4.50m qualifying standard to date.

WAIS sprinter Ben Offereins ran third in the men’s 400m event in Sydney, finishing behind the in-form John Steffensen (45.61) and Kenyan 800m specialist David Rudisha (45.82). Offereins clocked 46.09secs in his fastest time of the summer to date.

Lauren Boden (ACT) ran an impressive 400m hurdles at the Sydney Track Classic and was rewarded with an Olympic qualifying time, as was Sally Pearson (Qld) in the 100m hurdles and 200m, Youcef Abdi (NSW) in the 3000m steeplechase and Henry Frayne (Qld) in the long jump.

Boden opened her domestic campaign in Canberra with a time of 56.62 and has since consistently improved. Here, she ran over a second faster than that opener and crossed the line in 55.45, 0.05 faster than the coveted Olympic qualifying mark of 55.50.

Boden said: “That’s just perfect. I saw the clock and thought please don’t round up and thankfully it didn’t. I was having a debate with my coach Matty B (Beckenham) before about what stride pattern to run. It was alright for now but there’s room for more improvement.

“Last week I was really close in Perth and I think a lot of people would’ve gotten stressed by that but I knew for me Sydney was ahead and used that as motivation, and I think it worked.”

Also impressive in the hurdles was world champion Pearson, who won the 100m event in 12.66 (+1.6 m/s), her fastest ever in Australia.

Pearson returned later to clock another Olympic qualifier in the 200m, her first. The IAAF World Athlete of the Year had hoped to run sub-23 seconds, but while she was unable to achieve that, in 23.06, it was the first time she has run below the Olympic qualifying standard.

Pearson said: “Tonight has been a fantastic night, running 12.66 in the hurdles is a world-class time. I ran it in my second last race of the season last year and now I’ve run it in the second race of this year.”

“I just try and get out, run my race and run fast.

“Every year it pushes me to run faster and faster in the 200, I know I’m capable of 22.5. I just have to have the right competition and the right night and hopefully it will come together.”

Abdi’s performance of 8:22.01 adds a third qualifier to his burgeoning resume in the 3000m steeplechase. He now just needs to win at the Qantas Melbourne Track Classic to secure his nomination for London 2012. The race was won by Kenyan Jairus Kipchoge (8:19.04).

In the field Frayne jumped a huge personal best of 8.27m (+1.4m/s) in the long jump tonight to make him the second Australian to have the all important Olympic mark.

His performance added 28 centimeters to his previous career best. It also set a new best Australian long and triple jump double, beating Phil May who boasts marks of 8.04m and 17.02m. World indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre (NSW) came second in 8.04m.

Frayne said: “I came hoping to run down the runway and sort my run-up for the triple jump in Melbourne in a fortnight. They were pretty nice conditions tonight, with a tailwind, and things just kind of came together.”

Also on track, world and Olympic 1500m champion Asbel Kiprop (KEN) won his first race on Australian soil, in the 800m in 1:45.91. When the pacemaker dropped out at the bell, Kiprop went on to lead through to the end while Jeff Riseley (VIC)made a late charge down the home-straight moving from fifth to second and across the line in 1:46.55. Lachlan Renshaw (NSW) finished third in 1:46.98.

The women’s 800m was equally thrilling, when Tamsyn Manou (VIC) won by 20m in 2:01.53 and her training partner Katherine Katsanevakis (VIC) came second in 2:03.79.

In other highlights:
– Zoe Buckman (VIC) made it a hat-trick of wins on home soil in the won 1500m. When the bell sounded Buckman made her charge and opened up a further gap to go clear of the field, to win in a time of 4:09.89. Bridey Delaney (NSW) came second in 4:12.92 and Melissa Duncan (VIC) was third in 4:14.13
– Paralympic gold medallist Evan O’Hanlon (ACT) equaled his own world record in the T38 200m of 21.98, which is the fastest time since the Beijing Paralympics. This run follows his world record in the 100m in Brisbane last month and empahsises the form he is currently in.
– Hannah Cockroft (GBR) broke her own T34 400m world record with 59.99 in as did Michelle Stilwell (CAN) in the T52 world record with 65.41.
– Collis Birmingham (VIC) ran a thrilling 1500m but had to take second in 3:35.74 after David Torrence (USA) pipped him on the line to win in 3:35.66.
– World and Olympic champion Valerie Adams (NZL) dominated the shot put with a winning heave of 20.67m
– Olympic champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton (USA) won the discus with a best mark of 63.23m, with Dani Samuels (NSW) second (60.98m).

– with Athletics Australia