16 Dec 2008

Australian Institute of Sport athlete and Beijing Olympian Chris Erickson has automatically qualified for next year’s world athletics championships, taking out the Australian 50km walk title in Melbourne.

Battling strong winds and driving rain at Fawkner Park, Erickson sliced nearly three minutes from his personal best to stop the clock at 3 hours 55 minutes and 28 seconds.

The event doubled as the selection trial for next year’s world championships in Berlin and the winning time was well under the A-qualifying time of 3:58.00 and better than the 3:58.22 Erickson set in winning the bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Beijing silver and bronze medallist Jared Tallent walked the opening 30km of the event as a training effort, clocking 2 hours and 32 seconds for 30km, and was more than a lap ahead of Erickson when he left the circuit.

AIS-based Erickson, who walked alongside veteran Duane Cousins for the first 20km, gradually opened up a commanding lead, and finished strongly to achieve the qualifying time with ease. Cousins finished in second place in just over four hours.

‘My aim was to come down and win in under the A, and make the team the easy way’, Erickson said.

‘I was confident in my preparation, but I arrived in Melbourne on Thursday and didn’t think it would keep raining for three days straight. I was hoping to do a 3:50 or 3:51 but that was out the door from the start.’

The 27-year-old said he wanted to focus on the 50km event at next year’s world titles.

‘I want to chase the 20km A-qualifying mark as well to keep my options open, but the 50km is where my potential lies so that’s where I’m heading for next year.’

Nathan Deakes, as the defending 50km walk world champion, is eligible for a wild card entry into the event in Berlin, meaning that Australia can field up to four competitors for the long walk.

Jared Tallent is an automatic selection for both events in Berlin following his medal winning efforts in Beijing and team-mate Luke Adams has also achieved the A-qualifying time for both walks.

Erickson was with the leaders in the 20km event in Beijing before being disqualified for the first time in his career. He watching from the sidelines as team-mate Jared Tallent captured the bronze, with Luke Adams finishing sixth in the short event before backing up to finish tenth in the long walk, where Tallent won the silver medal.