AUS OPEN & U20 CHAMPS PREVIEW | STACKED WA TEAM SET FOR GLORY IN ADELAIDE

The path to Paris will stop through Adelaide this week as a star-studded group of WA Open and Under 20 athletes battle it out for National titles.

Led by World Champion Nina Kennedy, the Open and Under 20 athletes are set for a decisive hit out as team selections for Paris 2024 and the World Athletics Under 20 Championships get underway.

Nina Kennedy returns to the national circuit for the first time since her World Championship title in Budapest. Kennedy enters the Championship after a career-defining 2023. Increasing her Australian record to 4.91m after her World Championship battle, the WAIS athlete closed out the year with the world lead and is now ready to launch her Paris 2024 campaign with a hit out in Adelaide.  Joining Kennedy will be fellow WAIS athletes Olivia Gross and Madeline Lawson who will battle it out and challenge for a spot in the Olympic team.

World Championship bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall will look to consolidate his start to 2024 with a win in the Men’s Open Pole Vault. A five-time national champion, Marschall returns to familiar territory with the South Australia-born athlete looking to build on his performances before shifting his attention to a podium in Paris and a possible 6-meter leap.  

Olympian Declan Tingay (Brent Vallance) will launch the state’s campaign on Thursday morning when he lines up in the Open 10,000m Race Walk. Tingay’s shown impressive form on the international stage with a top-8 performance in the 20km Race Walk at last year’s World Championship, and will aim to defend his 10,000m national title in Adelaide. 

After a blitzing 2023 Nationals campaign, Paralympian Rhiannon Clarke (Danny Kevan) will aim to replicate her golden performance in Adelaide. The World Championship silver medallist will once again contest the 100m, 200m and 400m Ambulant events as she looks to make her return to the Australian team bound for Paris.  

Joining Clarke as a potential Paris 2024 athlete is visually impaired thrower and rising Australian star Jackson Hamilton (Morgan Ward). Hamilton has enjoyed a stellar domestic season with a slew of Paralympic A qualifiers including a massive Australian record throw of 68.43m in February. Making his senior Australian debut at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, Hamilton finished in seventh place with 58.41m, just short of the bronze-winning throw of 59.79m. With a possible Paris podium in play, expect the WAIS athlete to unleash on Friday.

The state’s enviable Open contingent will also see Australian team members Peter Bol (Just Rinaldi), Matthew Ramsden (Nic Bideau), Sarah Edmiston (Paul Edmiston), Ella Pardy (Danny Kevan) and Cruz Hogan (Morgan Ward) look to consolidate their seasons and secure a spot in the Paris-bound team. 

WA's impressive list of Under 20 athletes will aim to clinch selection for the World Athletics Under 20 Championships. 10 eligible WA athletes have registered a qualifying standard for their event and now endeavour to claim the Australian title. The talented pack includes Decathlete Jack Whiteside (Chelsea Whiteside), sprinter Olivia Dodds (Lyn Foreman), walker Alexandra Griffin (Jared Tallent) and Commonwealth Youth Games Finalist Ky Hehir (Matthew Ramsden).

Griffin, Whiteside, and thrower Robert Marchesi-Scott (Grant Ward) will enter the Championships with the National lead in their events. Selected for the Australian Race Walk team bound for Turkiye later this month, Griffin is the first of the trio to contest the Championships and will line up in the Under 20 10,000m Race Walk final on Thursday night. Claiming silver in 2023, Griffin is primed to collect the national title and threaten her own state record of 47:12.46 from earlier in the year.

Jack Whiteside will aim to make his inaugural Australian team with a strong performance in the Men’s Under 20 Decathlon. Whiteside is the only Australian to register a World Under 20 qualifier in the Decathlon after a state record-breaking 7,438 points in November.

While Marchesi-Scott returns from injury, his season-opener of 18.27m in December is still the sole World Under 20 Qualifier for the Men’s Under 20 Shot Put competition. Marchesi-Scott faces tough competition from the New Zealand guests for the overall win but will unleash come final time on Saturday Morning.

The schedule and entries for Open and Under 20 events can be found on Roster Athletics here.

The 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships will be held from Thursday 11 April to Friday 19 April at the South Australia Athletics Stadium in Adelaide. Spectators can purchase tickets for the four-day Championships HERE.

You can follow all the athletics action for the 2024 Chemist Warehouse Australian Athletics Championships via Athletics West’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

For more information about how you can get started in athletics, contact Athletics West on 08 6272

0480 or email admin@athleticswest.com.au.

By David Smith, Athletics West

Posted 10 April 2024