The first two weekends of June 2021 saw the Gold Coast Performance Centre host the Oceania Athletics Invitational Olympic and Paralympic Qualifying Meets, with some outstanding results from athletes from across the region.
In the first of the Oceania Invitational Events, Peter Bol saw a dominant 800m race finishing in 1.44.88 – a Tokyo Olympic Qualifier. High jumper Nicola McDermott set a new Australian record of 2.00m, and Samantha Schmidt (T38) threw her seventh qualifier in the discus throw, throwing 33.39m for her second-best performance within the qualifying period.
The second Oceania Invitational Event saw many stand out performances across the field including:
- The women’s 4x100m team of Taylah Cruttenden, Bree Masters, Riley Day and Hana Basic ran the 2nd fastest time ever by an Australian team (the fastest in Australia and fastest not at altitude) at 43.11 to fall just short of the top 16 ranking spot.
- Peter Bol ran the fastest 800m by an Australian on home soil with his 1.44.62.
- Matthew Denny threw a massive PB and his first Olympic Qualifier in the discus, launching it 66.15m.
- Four-time world champion Isis Holt(T35) proved she is close to her best form, running into a headwind of -2.6 yet still clocking an A qualifying time of 29.10.
- Jaylah Hancock ran 4.12.42 in the 1500m to be 6th fastest Australian u20 of all time.
- Tokyo-bound Paralympic gold medallist James Turner (T36) ran his fourth best 400m time in difficult conditions, crossing the line in 53.26
- Todd Hodgetts (F20) threw his second B qualifier of 15.64m in the men’s shot put.
- Long jumper Ari Gesini jumped his second Paralympic qualifier of 5.99m (1.4) making him eligible for selection for the Australian Paralympic Team.
- Tomysha Clark took out the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.49m securing a 20cm personal best, and elevating her to fourth on the Australian Under 20 all-time list.
- Hannah Jones (AUS) 12.91 (+0.5) in the 100m Hurdles.
- Javelin thrower, Kathryn Mitchell threw 63.50m to edge up the World Rankings. She is currently ranked 26th.
We were very lucky to see so many quality athletes, and excellent performances, so close to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games competing at the Centre.
Congratulations to all athletes, coaches and officials, and a big thank you to Oceania Athletics for hosting two fantastic international events at the Gold Coast Performance Centre.
Results and image credit to Oceania Athletics.
