Nation’s Best Set for Melbourne World Challenge

Published On: 28 March 2013

Victoria will play host to the latest round of the Australian Athletics Tour this weekend, with the nation’s best set to compete against some world class names at the Melbourne World Challenge.

Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell and Great Britain’s Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford are just two of the big names in action this weekend, whilst WAIS athlete Liz Parnov will compete in the women’s pole vault as she continues preparations for next month’s Australian National Championships.

“The Qantas Melbourne World Challenge brings to a crescendo the Australian season before the Nationals in Sydney the following week and it is very exciting to have some of our fantastic juniors involved,”SaraMulkearns, Athletics Australia Junior High Performance Manager said.

Two of those exciting juniors hail from the Western Australian Institute of Sport and will be in action over the weekend, with young pole vaulter Nina Kennedy and javelin thrower Cruz Hogan both keen to gather more experience on the domestic scene.

Powell – a former world record holder – will be a major draw card, with the 100m sprint star also lined to compete in the Stawell Gift, Australia’s richest foot race.

Rutherford will continue his Australian tour, following a win in Perth two weeks ago, when he launched 7.89m for victory.

Liz Parnov set a season’s best in Perth after clearing 4.40m and she will look to go higher as she prepares to defend her national title from 2012, which also qualified her for the 2012 London Olympics.

The Qantas Melbourne World Challenge is the only meet in Australia sanctioned by the IAAF, with the event doubling as Round 1 of the IAAF World Challenge. It is the final leg of the Qantas Australian Athletics Tour ahead of the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney (NSW) on April 11-14.

– with Athletics Australia