ID :
48065
Fri, 02/27/2009 - 21:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/48065
The shortlink copeid
McLellan keen to retain bragging rights
Olympic silver medallist Sally McLellan will try to keep rising young rival Melissa Breen in her wake in the Sydney Track Classic on Saturday night.
McLellan is the current darling of Australian athletics after her stunning runner-up
finish in the 100m hurdles at last year's Beijing Olympics, but she is under
pressure from 18-year-old Breen.
Breen is the No.1 ranked Australian female for the 100m flat after running a
personal best 11.33 seconds in late 2008.
McLellan has concentrated more on the 100m hurdles, the event where she claimed
silver in Beijing, but now has her sights firmly set on Melinda Gainsford-Taylor's
100m record of 11.12 set in 1994.
The 22-year-old came agonisingly close to the record in the heats at the 2007 world
championships in Osaka, Japan, where she clocked 11.14, which remains her personal
best.
McLellan showed she is in form at the Queensland titles earlier this month when she
ran 11.26 in a heat - her best time in 18 months - before winning the final in
11.35.
And she wants to ensure she is the one to break Gainsford-Taylor's long-standing
record.
"They said that I said Melissa or I will break the record this year, but I didn't
say that," McLellan told AAP in Sydney.
"I said I want to break the Australian record, I didn't say I want her to.
"But Melissa's a great kid, we get along really well and it's fantastic I have
someone to run against and push me forward in the sprints and know we have a future
in female sprinting."
McLellan is part of an impressive line-up for the meet at the Sydney Olympic Park
Athletics Centre.
Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker and former 100m world record-holder Asafa
Powell of Jamaica will also compete, although the latter is running in the
unfamiliar 400m event alongside Australian champion Joel Milburn, Sean Wroe and John
Steffensen.
Hooker has suggested the vaulting world record of 6.15m set by Ukrainian great
Sergey Bubka could be under threat depending on the conditions, while Olympic discus
champion Stephanie Brown Trafton from the US will also be on show.
McLellan will have a busy program, competing in the 100m, 100m hurdles and the
4x100m relay, a schedule that would make it seem unlikely she would be able to break
the national 100m record.
But Gainsford-Taylor feels it is simply a matter of time.
"It's not about if, it's just about when it's going to happen," she said. "A couple
of years ago at the world championships she got really close to it.
"It's great. It's great that someone in the sport is achieving that.
"I've been following her career for quite a long time now. I've loved seeing her do
so wonderfully well."
"It's great for our sport."
McLellan is the current darling of Australian athletics after her stunning runner-up
finish in the 100m hurdles at last year's Beijing Olympics, but she is under
pressure from 18-year-old Breen.
Breen is the No.1 ranked Australian female for the 100m flat after running a
personal best 11.33 seconds in late 2008.
McLellan has concentrated more on the 100m hurdles, the event where she claimed
silver in Beijing, but now has her sights firmly set on Melinda Gainsford-Taylor's
100m record of 11.12 set in 1994.
The 22-year-old came agonisingly close to the record in the heats at the 2007 world
championships in Osaka, Japan, where she clocked 11.14, which remains her personal
best.
McLellan showed she is in form at the Queensland titles earlier this month when she
ran 11.26 in a heat - her best time in 18 months - before winning the final in
11.35.
And she wants to ensure she is the one to break Gainsford-Taylor's long-standing
record.
"They said that I said Melissa or I will break the record this year, but I didn't
say that," McLellan told AAP in Sydney.
"I said I want to break the Australian record, I didn't say I want her to.
"But Melissa's a great kid, we get along really well and it's fantastic I have
someone to run against and push me forward in the sprints and know we have a future
in female sprinting."
McLellan is part of an impressive line-up for the meet at the Sydney Olympic Park
Athletics Centre.
Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker and former 100m world record-holder Asafa
Powell of Jamaica will also compete, although the latter is running in the
unfamiliar 400m event alongside Australian champion Joel Milburn, Sean Wroe and John
Steffensen.
Hooker has suggested the vaulting world record of 6.15m set by Ukrainian great
Sergey Bubka could be under threat depending on the conditions, while Olympic discus
champion Stephanie Brown Trafton from the US will also be on show.
McLellan will have a busy program, competing in the 100m, 100m hurdles and the
4x100m relay, a schedule that would make it seem unlikely she would be able to break
the national 100m record.
But Gainsford-Taylor feels it is simply a matter of time.
"It's not about if, it's just about when it's going to happen," she said. "A couple
of years ago at the world championships she got really close to it.
"It's great. It's great that someone in the sport is achieving that.
"I've been following her career for quite a long time now. I've loved seeing her do
so wonderfully well."
"It's great for our sport."
