23 Mar 2009

Thirty-nine Australian athletes are bound for the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin following the Selection Trials and 87th Australian Athletics Championships.

The current team is already nearly double the size of the squad which was sent to the 2005 world championships in Helsinki (19) with the team predicted to swell further before the final selector’s meeting on 20 July.

'This is the start of a four-year strategy to introduce as many high performance athletes to the pressures of world class athletics,” explained High Performance Manager Eric Hollingsworth.

'This is a great opportunity for our athletes to grow and grasp a chance at Olympic success. Athletes need to keep in mind that Australian team selection will get increasingly more difficult as we travel towards London.'

'To achieve Olympic dreams for London, athletes will have had to have improved over the four year journey to make sure we can guarantee successful results at the London Olympics.'

Sixteen members of the 39-strong team will be making their world championships debut.

Men Athletes

400m:                         Joel Milburn, John Steffensen, Sean Wroe
1500m:                       Jeff Riseley, Jeremy Roff
5000m:                       Collis Birmingham
10000m:                     David McNeill
400m Hurdles:            Tristan Thomas*
3000m steeplechase:  Youcef Abdi
20km walk:                  Luke Adams*, Adam Rutter*, Jared Tallent*
50km walk:                  Luke Adams, Nathan Deakes*, Chris Erickson*, Jared Tallent
Pole Vault:                  Paul Burgess, Steven Hooker
Long Jump:                 Fabrice Lapierre, Mitchell Watt
Triple Jump:                Alwyn Jones
Shot Put:                     Justin Anlezark
Javelin Throw:             Jarrod Bannister
4 x 100m relay:            Anthony Alozie, Matt Davies, Patrick Johnson, Joshua Ross, Aaron Rouge-Serret
4 x 400m relay:            Milburn, Steffensen, Thomas, Wroe

Women Athletes

100m:                          Melissa Breen (18, ACT)
400m:                         Tamsyn Lewis (30, Vic)
1500m:                        Sarah Jamieson (33, Vic)
100m Hurdles:             Sally McLellan (22, Qld)
400m Hurdles:             Tamsyn Lewis, Jana Rawlinson*
3000m steeplechase:   Donna MacFarlane
20km walk:                   Jessica Rothwell, Claire Tallent, Cheryl Webb
High Jump:                   Petrina Price
Pole Vault:                   Alana Boyd
Discus Throw:              Dani Samuels
Javelin Throw:              Kimberley Mickle

*AIS scholarship holders

Meanwhile, AIS track and field athletes have featured strongly at the Athletics Australia Awards function.

Tristan Thomas –Athlete of the Australian Season Award (joint winner with Sally McLellan)

Jared Tallent – Out of Stadium Athlete of the Year

Brent Vallance – Coach of the Year (Senior Athlete)

Angeline Blackburn – Indigenous Athlete of the Year

Heath Francis and Evan O’Hanlon – AWD Athlete of the Year