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Opinion - 2002 SeasonThe 2002 season, as far as Australian track and field is concerned, has seen a very mixed bag of results.The absence of some of Australia's few world star athletes from most of the European season will have cost Athletics Australia in terms of Federal Government funding which is dependent on improved World Rankings and team performances. Injuries to Australia's only true world stars - Cathy Freeman and Dmitri Markov - kept them away from top competition for most of 2002 and it is to be hoped that both will again challenge the best in the world in 2003. Fortunately in 2002, a small number of Australian athletes were able to improve their performances and some, such as Jana Pittman and Benita Johnson, are likely to grab their first World Top Ten Ranking honours at the end of the year. There are only a few Aussie athletes who will be contenders for these 2002 World Top Ten lists (issued by Track & Field News, Athletics International and the ATFS). These are:
Bronwyn Thompson had a disappointing European season and her absence at the World Cup will further affect her chances of taking a high merit ranking. She is likely to scrape into the Top Ten on the basis of her 7.00m Commonwealth record from March. Viktor Chistiakov also had some disappointments in Europe but is concluding his season in fine style. The Pole Vault is one of the most open men's events for years with no absolute standout in 2002. In the absence of Dmitri Markov, training partner Paul Burgess is having his best ever season and deserves his place in the World Cup. Burgess would need to upset the field in Madrid and/or set a PB of 5.85 or better to have any chance of taking a Top Ten ranking from his better known rivals. Nathan Deakes' absence from the World Walking Cup may also spoil his chances of scoring a top ranking in the 20k event, but he should almost be guaranteed a place in both walking rankings. The IAAF World Rankings were instituted in 2000 as a supposedly objective way of determining world rankings across the range of track and field events. Using this scale, the top ranking fifty Australian athletes, ranked by their place in a particular event (as at 3 September 2002), are: Bronwyn Thompson LJ 5 Jana Pittman 400H 6 (& 68th in 400m) Tatiana Grigorieva PV 8 Viktor Chistiakov PV 8 Benita Johnson 5/10k 12 (& 52nd in 1500) Andrew Currey JAV 12 Lauren Hewitt 200 14 (& 40th in 100m) Tamsyn Lewis 800 16 Justin Anlezark SP 16 Sonia Brito 400H 17 Jane Jamieson Hept 17 Dmitri Markov PV 17 Stuart Rendell HAM 17 Craig Mottram 1500m 19 (& 23rd in 5/10k) Andrew Murphy TJ 19 Kym Howe PV 20 Brooke Krueger Hammer 22 Alison Lever Discus 23 Karyne Di Marco Hammer 23 Paul Burgess PV 23 Kris McCarthy 800m 24 Susie Power 5/10k 25 Matt Shirvington 100m 27 Sharon Cripps 200 29 (& 78th in 100m) Will Hamlyn-Harris Javelin 34 Sarah Jamieson 1500 35 Nicole Boegman LJ 35 Jacqui Munro 100H 38 Cecilia McIntosh Javelin 38 Georgie Clarke 1500 39 Youcef Abdi 1500m 39 Nick Moroney HJ 39 Bridgid Isworth PV 40 Nicole Mladenis TJ 41 Clare Thompson HEP 41 Monique Nacsa Discus 42 Kylie Wheeler HEP 43 Jacob McReynolds TJ 43 Patrick Johnson 200m 45 (& 82nd in 100) Susan Andrews 800 45 Petrina Price HJ 45 Stephanie Price 400H 46 Matt McEwen Decath 47 Tim Parravicini LJ 48 Michael Rehardt 400m 50 Clinton Hill 400m 50 Debbie Sosimenko HAM 50 Paul Pearce 400m 55 Aaron Fish Hammer 55 Mike Power 5/10k 60 A total of 85 Australian athletes are currently listed in the IAAF Top 100 World Rankings. MORE
- Thoughts on the Australian
men and Australian
women during 2002 including a basic preview of the 2003
athletics season for Australia. |
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