The selection window for the Olympic marathons closes this weekend and the Australian selectors can begin weighing the relative merits of the six women and four men from whom they can name three of each to run the Paris 26-miler.
Margert Beardslee’s story is not all flash and glamour. Known by many ‘old hands’ as Margaret Ricardo, she commenced running as a young girl, in what I would call a Ground Zero period of women’s distance running in New South Wales (NSW). Women’s participation during the 1970s was in its infancy, a small appendage to a male dominated competitive activity.
The actual running of the relays is exciting enough. Getting the baton around in the 4x100 is always a delicate balance between risk and reward. Push the envelope on the changes at the risk of dropping the baton or overrunning the zone. Then there’s the physical side of the 4x4 as after the first three bends it’s a high-speed battle for the best racing line in what essentially becomes a middle-distance sprint.
In line with that is the notion that each National Olympic Committee has the right to be represented at each Olympic Games. Thus, the universality clauses. As expressed in the World Athletics explainer to the qualification system for Paris: “An NOC with no male or female qualified athlete or relay team will be allowed to enter their best ranked male athlete or best ranked female athlete” . . . so far, so not so bad. But then, “in either the 100 metres, 800 metres or marathon.”
When Rose Davies shaved just over two seconds off Jess Hull’s Australian record for 5000 metres in running 14:41.65 in Tokyo last weekend (19 May), I was more surprised than I should have been.
With the Olympics just a couple of months away, it's timely that we take a look back at some of the all time classic distance running contests that we have seen over the history of the Modern Olympics.
When it comes to distance running, Oslo’s Bislett Stadium seems to be the gift that keeps on giving for Australians, Georgia Griffith the latest beneficiary with a national record in the 3000 metres on Thursday (30 May).
Stockholm, Sweden; 2 June 2024 - A blockbuster weekend of Diamond League action has been capped off with two podium performances by Australians in Stockholm, as discus giant Matthew Denny and middle-distance star Georgia Griffith continued their strong international campaigns.
There is the crisis over the women's marathon, where four-time Olympian Lisa Weightman had raised the possibility of a legal challenge to her non-selection and several hgh profile figures in the sport have weighed in with opinions, mostly critical of the selection committee. It has led to deep division within Australia's usually tight-knit athletics community. Similarly, Liam Adams, a late inclusion to the men's marathon team, has had has expressed his frustration with the system, which almost saw him left off the team.
Who kept Lisa Weightman out of the Olympic marathon team?
