It is a genuine possibility that in Paris this year Australia will record its highest medal tally in athletics at an Olympic Games since 1956.
Many of Australia’s top medal prospects in athletics were selected for the Paris Games in Adelaide on Sunday evening, becoming the first track and field athletes picked following the conclusion of open competition at the national titles.
The field athletes picked were high jumpers Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson, discus giant Matt Denny and long jumper Chris Mitrevski.
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The track athletes named were Michelle Jenneke (100m hurdles), Claudia Hollingsworth (800m), Abbey Caldwell (800m), Peter Bol (800m), Jessica Hull (1500m), Lauren Ryan (10,000m) and race walkers Jemima Montag, Rebecca Henderson, Rhydian Cowley and Kyle Swan.
At Australian athletics’ most successful Olympics in history, the Melbourne 1956 Games, 12 medals, including four of the gold variety, were won.
Since Melbourne 1956, the most medals Australia has won in athletics at a Games is six, secured at Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968.
When athletics gets under way in the French capital on August 1, Australia will attack the Games with seven individual global medallists.
So it is absolutely feasible that Australia could take home more than six medals for the first time since Melbourne 1956, when sprinting legend Betty Cuthbert led a phenomenal charge on home soil.
Australia’s seven individual global medallists are Olyslagers, Patterson, Nina Kennedy, Kelsey-Lee Barber, Mackenzie Little, Jemima Montag and Kurtis Marschall. Kennedy and Marschall, who weren’t named on Sunday, will be closer to the Games.
“We’ve got some fantastic athletes who are already right at that medal level,” Athletics Australia high-performance boss Andrew Faichney told Wide World of Sports.
“You’ve got to be positive about that [the team’s chances of posting its highest medal tally since Melbourne 1956].
“We had our best world championships last year, so I think we’re certainly on track for that.
“The athletes that are winning the medals have been at that level for the last few years.
“Mackenzie breaking through to get a medal [at the world titles last year] — she was sixth in Tokyo. Jemima, similarly, stepped into the medals [at the world titles last year] — she’s been in the top eight.
“We’ve got a really good chance for them to maintain that medal level, and hopefully we have a few with gold around their neck, too. That’d be pretty exciting.
“We have some fantastic athletes who know what to do and have been there before, so they’ll be there to deliver the business in Paris.”
Hull, Bol and Denny are among those who are yet to win an individual global medal, but who shape as genuine chances in Paris.
Hull made the women’s 1500m final at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics and, in Glasgow in March, finished fourth in the women’s 3000m at the world indoor titles.
In a series of runs that captivated Australia at the Tokyo Games, Bol finished fourth in the men’s 800m.
And after Denny fell agonisingly short of the medals at the Tokyo Olympics and at last year’s world championships, finishing fourth on both occasions, the powerful Queenslander won last year’s men’s discus title at the Diamond League final.
“I reckon they can [win medals in Paris],” Faichney said of Hull, Bol and Denny.
“It’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?
“We saw how well Jess has done. She’s been there or thereabouts at the last few major championships.
“Matt was fourth [at Tokyo 2020 and last year’s world championships]. Pete we saw in Tokyo [finish fourth].
“I think it’s pretty exciting [thinking about] about where they can go to … I think we’ll have a few break through into that in Paris [the medals].
“Brandon Starc has been there or thereabouts. We saw Hamish Kerr from New Zealand win gold at the world indoors [this year] and Brandon’s been peppering at that level … He was unlucky in Tokyo; at many Olympic Games and championships his performance in Tokyo would have won a medal.”
Of the athletes selected for the Paris Games on Sunday, Hollingsworth, Caldwell, Ryan and Mitrevski are set for their Olympic debut.
Australian track and field athletes selected for Paris Games: Nicola Olyslagers (high jump), Eleanor Patterson (high jump), Matt Denny (discus), Chris Mitrevski (long jump), Michelle Jenneke (100m hurdles), Claudia Hollingsworth (800m), Abbey Caldwell (800m), Peter Bol (800m), Jessica Hull (1500m), Lauren Ryan (10,000m), Jemima Montag (20km walk), Rebecca Henderson (20km walk), Rhydian Cowley (20km walk), Kyle Swan (20km walk)
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