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Linden Hall clinches 1500m Olympic qualifier as world record falls at Canberra Track Classic

Linden Hall, second from right, jockeys for position in the women’s 1500m at the Canberra Track Classic on Thursday night.

Linden Hall, second from right, jockeys for position in the women’s 1500m at the Canberra Track Classic on Thursday night. Photo: AAP

Australian middle-distance star Linden Hall has smashed the Olympic qualifying standard with a dominant victory in the women’s 1500m at the Canberra Track Classic.

Hall ran solo at the front for the last two laps on Thursday evening, with her winning time of four minutes 02.02 seconds more than two seconds under the Tokyo Games qualifying mark.

With her great domestic rival and national record holder Jessica Hull having already bettered the standard of 4:04.20 on three occasions, the pair can now turn their attention to becoming the first Australian women to dip under the four-minute barrier.

“I do want it, but I know (Hull) does just as much and I think that’s great,” said the 29-year-old Hall, who advanced to the semis in the 1500m at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“It’s funny, the officials always mix us up because our last names are pretty similar and I feel like that makes it more fun.”

Just six weeks after breaking the 1500m T12 world record at Zatopek:10, Jaryd Clifford (VIC, Philo Saunders) shaved nearly two seconds off his personal best, clocking 3:41.34, and placing third in the men’s 1500m open race behind Jye Edwards (NSW, Dick Telford) and Tomas Palfrey (ACT, Lee Bobbin).

Elated with his result, Clifford said breaking another world record was no surprise but lowering it as much as he did was something he was proud of.

“Honestly I think my last PB and world record was a really good run but I thought I’d have at least half a second more in me, so one and a half seconds more is a little bit more of a surprise,” he said.

“To break another world record in Australia is an amazing feeling.

“To break a couple at home was really special to do, especially after what Victoria went through last year, and to do it again in Canberra, where I currently live and where everyone has welcomed me with open arms, that’s really special. Now it’s about replicating that on the big stage, when it really does matter ­ in Tokyo.”

Clifford will now turn his attention to the Sydney Track Classic where he will compete in 5000m Australian Championships in just 48 hours’ time.

Peter Bol finished an agonising three hundredths of a second outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 1:45.20 in the men’s 800m.

After his training partner and national record holder Joseph Deng set up the race as pacemaker, Bol powered home to clock 1:45.23.

Rohan Browning was happy to take the victory in the men’s 100m over Jack Hale but unimpressed with his winning time in difficult conditions.

Browning is in hot form early in the Olympic year, as evidenced by a sizzling run of 9.96 in Wollongong in January, albeit with the aid of an illegal tailwind.

The meet in the national capital began in heavy rain and the track was still soaking wet for the blue-riband 100m races.

The 23-year-old Browning won in 10.34 seconds, with Hale coming home strongly after a sluggish start to take second spot in 10.42.

“You want to run fast all the time and you want to run faster than 10.3-whatever-it-was,” said Browning, who is aiming to become the first Australian man since 2004 to contest the 100m at Olympic level.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it. I wasn’t happy with that one.”

The vastly improved Hana Basic won the women’s 100m in 11.48 ahead of young star Riley Day (11.57).

In only her second competition since winning the 2019 world title in Doha, Kelsey-Lee Barber (53.46m) had to settle for second spot in the women’s javelin behind NSW thrower Mackenzie Little (58.43m).

Athletics Australia reports T38 Paralympian Deon Kenzie (ACT, Philo Saunders) broke the Oceania record clocking 3:58.43  edging closer to the world record of 3:57.00 after he became the first Australian athlete with cerebral palsy to run 1500m sub four minutes last weekend.

Sarah Walsh(NSW, Matt Beckenham) also broke the Oceania T64 long jump record, with a jump of 5.49m (0.0) and Vanessa Low (ACT, Iryna Dvoskina) came close to her world record, jumping 5.05m.

Australian record holder Catriona Bisset (VIC, Peter Fortune) clocked a new season’s best of 2:00.19, ahead of Ellie Sanford (VIC) and Gigi MacCagnini (VIC, Peter Fortune) who secured a World Under 20 qualifier with a time of 2:04.81.

Christopher Mitrevski (VIC, John Boas) pulled out a monumental leap of 8.03m (+0.0) to win the men’s long jump in emphatic fashion. The jump puts the Victorian into pole position in 2021 for Australia’s long jumping stocks, with the 24-year-old edged closer to his 2019 best of 8.05m (+2.0).

Adding another A-qualifier to her list of achievements this season, four-time T35 world champion Isis Holt (VIC, Paul Pearce) ran 13.78 over 100m, edging closer to her personal best of 13.36 before she took over a year away from the sport.

The rivalry between Nick Hough (VIC, Anthony Benn) and Nick Andrews (VIC, Tim O’Neill) witnessed another chapter in the men’s 110m Hurdles, with Hough running away with the event in a time of 13.63 (+0.3). Andrews clocked 13.81 in second place.

In the women’s 100m Hurdles, a blanket finish saw Abbie Taddeo (NSW, Penny Gilles) get the nod over Celeste Mucci (VIC, Darren Clarke) and Brianna Beehan (WA, Ryan Purcell).

Taddeo stopped the clock in 13.33 (+0.4), with Mucci (13.42) pipping Beehan (13.42) by the narrowest of margins.

-AAP

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