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55-strong Australian team confirmed for Bydgoszcz 2016

March 22, 2016

Bydgoszcz (POL) from 19-24 July 2016.

Boasting the newly crowned national junior record holder Trae Williams (Qld, 100m, 200m), IAAF World Youth Championships medallists Darcy Roper (Qld, long jump) and Ned Weatherly(Vic, hammer throw) and Youth Olympic Games champion Jessica Thornton (NSW, 400m), the squad includes 48 athletes competing in individual events, as well as the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay and women’s 4x400m relay teams.

“Athletics Australia Selectors are excited to confirm an initial team of 55 for Bydgoszcz 2016. In the wake of so many impressive performances at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships earlier this month, I am confident that the squad will commendably represent the green and gold on the world stage,” Dion Russell, the Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors, said.

“More than half of those that will compete in individual events were added automatically after performing at a level that saw them select themselves by winning the Selection Trial with a qualifier. This is an excellent result.”

“The IAAF World Under 20 Championships are the pinnacle global athletics competition for junior athletes and I congratulate those selected and look forward to sharing the journey with you all,” Sara Mulkearns, the Athletics Australia Junior High Performance Manager, said.

“I also sincerely thank the families, coaches and support networks of our selected athletes for the work that they do to ensure that our best talent can continue to develop in the sport, as well as the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and Athletics International for their financial contribution to making our programs a reality.”

Excitingly for the future of track and field, 63 athletes achieved a qualifying performance in the allocated Qualification Period, rivalling the 72 athletes in 2014 and 62 athletes in 2012. The number of performances at or better than the Qualification Standard also soared to more than 180 for the third consecutive time which is up from only 97 in 2010.

For more information on the IAAF World Junior Championships, please follow this link toiaaf.org.

The 2016 Australian Combined Events Championships will be held as part of the 2016 Australian Athletics Championships on 31 March – 3 April. Athletes selected in these events will be added in the days following the Championship.

IAAF World Under 20 Championships

Bydgoszcz, Poland

19-24 July 2016

MEN (24):

100m: Trae Williams (Qld), Jack Hale (Tas)

200m: Trae Williams (Qld)

400m: Lawson Power (Vic)

800m: Lachlan Barber (Vic), Joseph Deng (Qld)

1500m: Matthew Ramsden (WA), Isaac Hockey (Vic)

5000m: Matthew Ramsden (WA)

110m hurdles: Nicholas Andrews (NSW), Jacob McCorry (NSW)

High jump: Josh Connolly (Qld), John Dodds (Qld)