Five of the seven Australians who this morning made their first appearance of the Tokyo Olympics have advanced, in a pleasing session headlined by Peter Bol breaking the men’s national 800m record.
Bol has progressed to the semi-final after clocking 1:44.13 to post the second-quickest time of the heats and steal the Australian record off training buddy and close mate Joseph Deng, who had set the benchmark in 2018.
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In a first for Australia’s men in Olympic history, all three 800m runners have qualified for the semi-final.
Jeff Riseley, 34 and competing in his fourth Olympics, registered 1:45.41 to progress to the semi-final stage for the first time, while Charlie Hunter ran a 1:45.91 to snare a semi-final spot in his debut Olympic campaign.
In the men’s pole vault, Australian Kurtis Marshchall – the athlete caught up in a COVID-19 scare that forced Australia’s whole athletics team briefly into isolation yesterday – broke through to the final in his second Olympic Games after he was one of 11 competitors in the qualifiers who recorded a jump of 5.75m.
And Olympic debutant Liz Clay marched through to the semi-final of the women’s 100m hurdles after stopping the clock at 12.87 in the heats.
But as Deng, Riseley, Hunter, Marshchall and Clay all progressed in the morning session, Australia’s Dani Stevens and Sarah Carli did not manage to join them.
Stevens, 33 and competing in her fourth Olympic Games, could only muster a discus throw of 58.77m, well short of her 69.64m personal best.
Meanwhile, Carli fell short of the women’s 400m hurdles semi-final in a run of 56.93. It must be noted, however, that the Olympic debutant had emergency surgery in February following a life-threatening accident during a gym session, which severely injured her neck and could have led to disastrous complications involving her brain and nervous system.
Bol, Australia’s new men’s 800m record-holder, will aim to continue his shining Tokyo Games campaign when he competes in the semi-final tomorrow, in a race set to begin at 9.25pm (AEST).
Bol’s blistering run has added to a fascinating history behind Australia’s men’s 800m record.
Ralph Doubell, one of just three Australian men to have won Olympic gold on the track, along with Edwin Flack and Herb Elliott, set a new 800m record during the 1968 Mexico City Games, running 1:44.30.
The Victorian held that record until Deng pinched it from him in a time of 1:44.21 in Monaco in July 2018, less than three months before the 50th anniversary of Doubell’s incredible run.
Doubell had planned to release an autobiography celebrating the 50th anniversary of the run, and while author Michael Sharp’s book was still published, the final chapter had to be rewritten following Deng’s Monaco magic.
Bol and Deng are supreme Australian 800m runners of South Sudanese heritage.
Deng made his Olympic debut in Rio in 2016 but was ruled out of the Tokyo Games due to injury.
Millions of Australians are now watching on feverishly as Bol and many of his athletics teammates lift their eyes to the road ahead in Tokyo.
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