James Nipperess was the first Australian to take to the world stage at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing. With tough conditions of temperatures over 30 degrees facing our competitors we were certainly in for a tough day of competition. Nippers stepped up to the line in the 3000m steeple chase, eventually finishing in 12th spot with a time of 8:56.01
Melissa Duncan and Heidi See were our two female athletes in the 1500m heats. Melissa was first on the track in heat one of the competition. Her 11th place finish with a time of 4:09.29 just narrowly misses out on qualifying for the next round. Whilst Heidi was in a slower heat, finishing 10th with a time of 4:20.65. Neither girls will progress through to the next round.
Joshua Ralph and Jeff Riseley were our final competitors for the day. Both athletes were looking to finish in the top three of their respective heats, or have one of the next six fastest times. Joshua was in the first heat, and after a slow first lap, he wasn’t able to hold on to the top three and ended up finishing fifth with a time of 1:48.90. Our final hope for the day was Riseley. After an extremely strong domestic season, all eyes were on him to continue his strong performances into these championships. After going through the bell in last position, albeit a very quick time, Jeff had a lot of work to do. He passed most of the field in the last 100m, he crossed the line in third place with a time of 1:46.79.
