Nicola Olyslagers saved the best for last as she won Australia’s only gold of the athletics world championships on Sunday night. But it was heartbreak for Matt Denny and disaster for Australia’s sprint king Rohan Browning.
The Aussies botched their final baton exchange in the men’s 4x100m relay, with Browning failing to connect with Calab Law. Browning, who is Australia’s fastest man in the 100m, appeared to take off too early and gave Law no chance of handing over the baton in the allotted zone.
Nicola Olyslagers won high jump gold as the Aussies suffered another relay disaster. Image: Getty
Browning threw his head back in anguish as the Aussies’ race was ended, while Law appeared to cry out before the botched exchange. Browning appeared to be in medal contention if the baton exchange had been clean, but was forced to watch on as Noah Lyles raced away to secure the gold for USA.
It was the third relay disaster for Australia at the meet, with the men’s 4x400m team disqualified after initially thinking they’d broken the national record that’s stood for 41 years. In that instance it was Aidan Murphy who started with his foot on the wrong side of the line before receiving the baton from Reece Holder. The women’s 4x100m team also made a mess of their first changeover, and the women’s 4x400m squad failed to advance to the final.
Nicola Olyslagers wins stunning gold in high jump
The relay heartbreak was tempered by Olyslagers, who claimed gold in the women’s high jump final. Olyslagers produced a near-flawless performance in the rain in Tokyo to win Australia’s only gold medal on the final day of the championships.
It came eight years after she failed to clear a single bar on her world championships debut in London. “I’ve seen year-by-year a gradual performance up,” said Olyslagers, who won on countback from Poland’s Maria Zodzik.
“But when I came last, I remember standing out there and I had so much peace because I knew that my performance didn’t determine my identity and value. So then coming in as world No.1, the pressure was off because I knew that if you can’t lose anything when you come last, you can’t gain anything when you come first. So let’s go out there and do it.”
Reigning world and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh tied for bronze with Serbia’s Angelina Topic, while Aussie former world champ Eleanor Patterson tied for fifth. “To come back with a very saturated notebook and a gold medal, it’s wonderful,” Olyslagers said.
Olyslagers’ gold gave Australia four medals for the meet. Kurtis Marschall (pole vault), Jessica Hull (1500m) and Mackenzie Little (javelin) all claimed bronze.
Nicola Olyslagers celebrates after winning high jump gold at the athletics world championships. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Matt Denny and Ky Robinson fourth in their events
Denny was forced to settle for fourth spot in the discus for a second-successive world championships. Sunday night’s final was held in tricky conditions where the throwers had to contend with heavy rain, a slippery circle and two long postponements. Denny lost his balance and slipped on multiple occasions, and he appeared rattled.
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Queenslander Ky Robinson produced a stunning run to finish fourth in the 5000m final after he didn’t even qualify for last year’s Paris Olympics. The 23-year-old stormed home on the final lap to cross in 12 minutes, 59.61 seconds – his second fastest time. The only Australian to produce a better result in the 5000m at a world championships was the legendary Craig Mottram, who was third in Helsinki in 2005 but with a slower time than Robinson’s.
And Hull was last in a lightning-fast 800m final won by Kenyan Lilian Odira in a championship record time of 1:54.62. Hull won bronze in the 1500m earlier in the meet, and the 800 isn’t her specialty. Still, her time of 1:57.30 was only 0.15 shy of the Australian record she ran in the semis two days ago.
with AAP