Ramsden Runs World Championships A-Qualifier in Finland

1500m runner Matthew Ramsden has run a World Championship A-Qualifier in Finland overnight, setting a new personal best in the process.

His home-straight surge to the line at the 2019 Lahti Games saw him take line honours in 3:35.85min which has now put him within sights of Western Australian track and field royalty – Herb Elliott – whose career best was 3:35.60.

Ramsden’s performance will now give selectors plenty to think about when they finalise team spots for this year’s World Championships in Doha later in the year.

The 21 year-old earlier in 2019 made his senior team debut as a member of the Australian squad that competed at the IAAF Cross Country World Championships in Denmark.

On the basis of his form in Finland this week, it won’t be his last venture in the green and gold. He took the win ahead of another Aussie, with Tasmanian Stewart McSweyn finishing third.

Remarkably, both men ran in the Outback Mile at the Leonora Golden Gift in Western Australia’s Goldfields region just last weekend, with their impressive runs in Finland coming directly off a long-haul flight.

Pole vaulter Declan Carruthers was another West Aussie in fine form in the Finish ski town, with the 21 year-old talent clearing 5.55m – for his best effort overseas – and just a whisker shy of his personal best.

That effort earned him a competition win as he continues an overseas campaign that he hopes can push him towards the world championships qualifying standard of 5.71m.