Mickle Earns World Championship Ticket
WAIS athlete Kim Mickle has won a tenth national javelin title after throwing 61.02m at the Australian Athletics Championships in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Commonwealth Games champion secured her selection for this year’s World Championships by finishing ahead of ACT competitor Kelsey Lee Roberts (58.61m) and emerging star Mackenzie Little (53.17m).
In 2013, Mickle won a silver medal at the Moscow World Championships, and the popular West Australian will again be in the hunt for medals in Beijing, when this year’s titles are held from August 22-30.
The result was hard fought for Mickle, who had batted to overcome a nagging Achilles complaint in order to line up for nationals. A week out, she threw a huge A-qualifier in Melbourne and pulled up well, but said in the lead up to the Brisbane showdown that she was not expecting big distances.
Distances were down across the field but importantly, Mickle launched the best throw of the competing Australian contingent in round four, cementing a tenth national title and a ticket onto the Australian Flame team for Beijing.
Former WAIS athlete Alana Boyd dominated the women’s pole vault competition, clearing 4.60m for victory and world championship selection ahead of WAIS young gun and junior world record holder Nina Kennedy.
Kennedy finished second – with a best clearance of 4.20m – whilst another former WAIS vaulter in Vicky Parnov was third (4.20m).
WAIS athletes Emma Philippe and Liz Parnov managed clearances at 4.05m.
Athletics Australia can nominate three athletes for World Championship selection in the pole vault, and Kennedy remains a strong chance to make her senior championship debut, having twice passed the qualifying mark of 4.50m across the domestic campaign, including her world record of 4.59m in Perth.
WAIS sprinter Lyndsay Pekin set a new personal best of 53.51secs running out of lane nine in the women’s 400m final.
Pekin – who represented Australia at last year’s World Relay Championships – has made the transition from hurdles to sprinting, and if her pb at nationals is any indication, the switch is paying dividends.
The event was won by NSW’s athlete Annaliese Rubie (52.77), with Mitchell Morgan (52.94) and Caitlin Sargent (53.01) rounding out the medals.