Doha World Champs Preview
The 2019
World Athletics Championships commence on Friday, September 27 in Doha with
four Western Australian athletes in action.
Olympian Liz
Parnova will be joined by Commonwealth Games hurdler Brianna Beahan, whilst
middle distance star Matt Ramsden and marathon runner Rochelle Rodgers will
make their senior World Championship debut.
Liz Parnova
DOB: 9 May 1994
Coach: Paul Burgess
Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): @LizaParnov / lizparnov
International Champs & medals:
- Youth Olympics (2010 silver)
- World Youth Championships (2011 silver)
- World Juniors (2012 silver)
- World Championships (2017)
- Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014, 2018)
- Olympic Games (2012)
Bio:
From a family of athletes and particularly pole vaulters, Liz Parnova was destined to follow suit. She was a competitive pole
vaulter from the age of nine, where she vaulted 2.65m.
She set two world age bests at 11 years (3.15m in 2005)
and 12 years (3.64m in 2006). She cleared four metres just days after her 14th
birthday in 2008.
In 2010, she made her international championship debut at
the inaugural Youth Olympic (winning silver) and Commonwealth Games. Her
stellar junior career continued with medals at the 2011 World Youth Champs and
2012 World Juniors.
She competed at the London Olympics in 2012 and her
second Commonwealth Games in 2014. In 2016, she won the national title, but in
April she fractured her tibia, ending her hopes of a second Olympics appearance.
She rebounded well in 2017, clearing a PB 4.51m in Perth
in March. At the 2017 IAAF World Championships she cleared 4.35m in the
qualifying rounds.
In 2018, she competed at her third Commonwealth Games
placing fifth with 4.40m. Parnova has compiled her best year yet in 2019,
raising her PB on three occasions, with clearances of 4.52m, 4.56m, and 4.60m
(most recently) to win the Oceania Championships.
Her new PB moved her to equal fourth Australian All-Time
and also past her Aunty Tatiana Grigorieva (PB 4.58m).
Competition times:
Day 1) 10:30PM (27 SEP) Pole Vault Qualification.
Day 3) 1:40AM (30 SEP) Pole Vault Final
Brianna Beahan
DOB: 1 Nov 1991
Coach: Ryan Purcell
Social Media (Twitter/Instagram): @BriannaBeahan /
brianna_beahan
International Champs & medals:
- Commonwealth Youth Games: (2008 100H bronze,
4×100 silver)
- World University Games (2013)
- World Relays (2015, 2019)
- Commonwealth Games (2018)
Bio:
Brianna, an active child, started in the sport when her
mother enrolled her in Little Athletics aged 10 as she had an interest in
sport. It was prompted by Betty Cuthbert (who lived next to her Aunt) telling
her she had sprinters’ calves.
She has always been a strong sprinter, alongside her
speciality the short hurdles. At age 15 she was second at the national schools
in a quick 100m time of 12.09w.
During her 20s she steadily improved her PBs. There was
major progress in 2015 when Brianna was 23. During that summer she brought her
hurdles best down from 13.48 to 13.18.
Her speed was impressive too running 11.63, which earned
her a place in the Australian 4x100m relay team which competed at the 2015 IAAF
World Relays.
More progress in the Olympic year 2016 down to 13.03, she
remained 0.03 seconds outside a Rio qualifier.
She ran a windy 12.96 (2.3m/s) in 2017, then a PB 13.02
in January 2018 and third at the Commonwealth Games trials saw her compete at
the Games where she placed fifth on the Gold Coast. In 2019 she was second at
nationals and first at the Oceania Championships.
Competition times:
Day 9) 10:15PM (5 OCT) 100 Metres Hurdles Heats
Day 10) 12:05AM (7 OCT) 100 Metres Hurdles Semi-Final
Day 10) 1:50AM (7 OCT) 100 Metres Hurdles Final
Matt Ramsden
DOB: 23 Jul 1997
Coach: Nic Bideau
Social Media: (Twitter/Instagram):
m__ramsden / m.ramsden
International Champs & medals:
- World Cross Country (2015 junior, 2019 senior)
- World Juniors (2016)
Bio:
Matthew Ramsden started athletics aged 14 when a Japanese
teacher invited him to the school runners club. He trained to break the school
records and stay fit for basketball. After making the state XC team in 2012, “I
realised I had a bit of talent. Before long, basketball took a backwards step
and I became obsessed with distance running.”
Within a couple of years he was selected for the junior
event at the World Cross Country Championships, aged 17. The following year
(2016) he went to the World Juniors making the 1500m final and running the
5000m.
While still a teenager he ran the impressive 1500m time
of 3:39.39 in May 2017. In good form in the leadup to the 2018 Commonwealth
Games trials, he ruptured his plantar fascia in his heat. He compiled a strong
series of performances in the 2018/19 summer, including placing fifth in the
World XC trial.
After initially missing selection, he received a late
call up going on to place an outstanding 39th in Aarhus in his senior
international debut at the World XC. He launched his 2019 European campaign
with a stunning near four seconds 1500m PB time of 3:35.85 – moving from 39th
to 14th Australian all-time, to sit one place behind another WA athlete Herb
Elliott.
A week later he ran a seven seconds 3000m PB time of
7:45.68 (15th all-time). After a quick trip to Australia to win the Oceania
Championships, he ran a five second mile PB time of 3:53.32 (7th all-time).
Competition times:
Day 7) 3:00AM (4 OCT) 1500 Metres Heats
Day 8) 1:10AM (5 OCT) 1500 Metres Semi-Final
Day 10) 12:40AM (7 OCT) 1500 Metres Final
Rochelle Rodgers
DOB: 25 Apr 1987
Coach: Rafael Baugh
Social Media (Instagram): rochelle.maree.running
Career Marathons: 10
Bio:
In her tenth marathon of her career Rochelle Rodgers ran
a nine-minute PB to put her in contention to make her debut in the green and
gold. In July Athletics Australia confirmed her selection Doha, where she will
run the marathon conducted at an unusual time of midnight.
Rochelle started running from a young age and found it a
great distraction from other school activities. Growing she also played tennis
from the age of four. She was never part of any state team, she just ran at
Little Athletics.
“Running was an escape from school life. I would come
home from school and my mum would tell me to go for a run, running was my escape.”
After she left school in Year 11 she started to train
under coach John Gilmour – the great masters athlete. He coached her to her
first marathon, Melbourne in 2013. Rochelle’s debut marathon was a promising
2:57.20.
Then in 2014 she came under the coaching guidance of Raf
Baugh. During her next six marathons from 2014 to 2017, she ran a personal best
on every occasion now down to 2:43.50.
“I just followed my training plan put together by my
coach. He had a three to four-year plan for me to slowly get down to sub 2.40.”
In 2018 she won Perth in 2:44.47 and then was second in
Melbourne (in 2:47.05) “During Melbourne 2018 I suffered from slight
dehydration due to unexpected temp changes,” she explained.
Then in February 2019 the breakthrough came, clocking
2:34.45 and winning Shizuoka in Japan. It was a Doha world championships
qualifier for Rochelle.
“Being selected for the Australian is a dream come true.”
Competition time:
Day 1) 4:59AM (28 SEP) Marathon Final