A trifecta of green and gold charges have been added to the Australian Flame team for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing (CHN) on 22-30 August 2015.
Boosting the team to an impressive 45 athletes, the IAAF Roll-Down process has seen national record holder Ryan Gregson (Vic, 1500m), Australian 1500m champion Heidi See (NSW, 1500m) and Glasgow 2014 starter James Nipperess (NSW, 3000m steeplechase) selected in their maiden event, while Jeff Riseley (Vic, 1500m) and Anneliese Rubie (NSW, 400m) will take to the track for a second time having already been selected to compete in the men’s 800m and women’s 4x400m relay respectively.
Three athletes will also compete in exhibition masters events, bringing the Australian contingent to 48 athletes.
“The selection philosophy in 2015 was to accept all invitations extended to athletes in Australia via the IAAF Roll-Down Process and I congratulate those added to the team, or to new events, today. The experience earned through the opportunity to compete will prove invaluable as we approach the Rio 2016 Olympic Games,” Dion Russell, the Athletics Australia Chairman of Selectors, said.
“It’s great to see our team shaping into one of the biggest we have taken to the world championships. There are a number of athletes not competing through injury that we would have expected, but the squad still includes 42 individual starters. That’s a great result. We have also seen a shift to a single qualification standard, which in many cases is more difficult than previous years, highlighting continued improvement by the team as a whole,” Craig Hilliard, the Athletics Australia Head Coach, added.
Event organisers have now issued invitations to compete to new athletes in all events via the IAAF Roll-Down Process. If some member federations do not accept the invitations extended, positions may become available to further Australian athletes once more. Further details will be provided if this eventuates.
The Australian Flame is currently preparing for the IAAF World Championships at a team camp in Wakayama (JPN), before arriving in the Chinese capital on 19 August 2015.
At the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow (RUS), Australia won three medals – two silver (Sally Pearson, Kim Mickle), one bronze (Jared Tallent) – and scored 27 points to place 16th of 203 competing nations. Additional top-eight performances were achieved by Zoe Buckman (Vic, 1500m), Kathryn Mitchell (Vic, javelin) and the men’s 4x400m relay team.
For more information on the IAAF World Championships, please click here to visit iaaf.org
For more information on the Australian Flame team, please click here to visit athletics.com.au.
IAAF World Championships
Beijing (CHN)
22-30 August 2015
MEN (17)
800m: Jeff Riseley (Vic), Joshua Ralph (NSW)
1500m: Ryan Gregson (NSW), Jeff Riseley (Vic)
5000m: Collis Birmingham (Vic), Brett Robinson (Vic)
110m hurdles: Nicholas Hough (NSW)
3000m steeplechase: James Nipperess (NSW)
Long jump: Fabrice Lapierre (NSW)
High jump: Joel Baden (Vic), Brandon Starc (NSW)
Discus throw: Benn Harradine (Qld), Julian Wruck (Qld)
Javelin: Hamish Peacock (Tas)
20km walk: Chris Erickson (Vic), Dane Bird-Smith (Qld), Jared Tallent (Vic)
50km walk: Chris Erickson (Vic), Jared Tallent (Vic)
Masters 800m: Allan Cook (Vic)
WOMEN (31)
100m: Melissa Breen (ACT)
200m: Ella Nelson (NSW)
400m: Anneliese Rubie (NSW)
1500m: Melissa Duncan (Vic), Heidi See (NSW)
5000m: Emily Brichacek (ACT), Madeline Heiner (NSW), Eloise Wellings (NSW)
100m hurdles: Michelle Jenneke (NSW)
400m hurdles: Lauren Wells (ACT)
3000m steeplechase: Madeline Heiner (NSW), Genevieve LaCaze (Qld), Victoria Mitchell (NSW)
High jump: Eleanor Patterson (Vic)
Pole vault: Alana Boyd (Qld), Nina Kennedy (WA)
Long jump: Brooke Stratton (Vic)
Discus throw: Dani Samuels (NSW)
Javelin: Kim Mickle (WA), Kathryn Mitchell (Vic), Kelsey-Lee Roberts (ACT)
Marathon: Julia Degan (NSW), Sinead Diver (Vic), Sarah Klein (Vic)
20km walk: Kelly Ruddick (Vic) Beki Smith (NSW), Rachel Tallent (Vic)
4x400m relay: Jess Gulli (Vic), Morgan Mitchell (Vic), Lyndsay Pekin (WA), Anneliese Rubie (NSW), Lauren Wells (ACT)
Masters 400m: Julie Forster (NSW), Gianna Mogentale (NSW)
