HOBART sprinter Jack Hale has kept his 2016 Olympic dream alive after setting a new Australian under-20 men’s 100 metres record in Germany on Saturday night.
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The 18-year-old clocked 10.21 seconds at the junior gala meeting in Mannheim – 0.05 of a second short of the 10.16 Olympic qualifier for Rio de Janeiro.
Hale ran the distance with a legal +1.6 metre-second tailwind in the heat to take down the previous 10.27 record set by Queensland speedster Trae Williams in March.
The performance was also a Tasmanian men’s open record and the 11th fastest time for an Australian of any age.
Hale is now the fifth quickest under-20 sprinter worldwide.
“It’s a very pleasing result coming straight off the plane,” Hale said.
“Since I landed I’ve been a bit tired, so that makes today even more pleasing.
“It’s a big PB so I’ve got a lot of confidence moving into the next month.”
Hale is in Europe with a 55-member national under-20 team preparing for the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, next month.
The final was run into a -0.5 m/s headwind but Hale was able to backup his record-breaking heat run, pinching the final in 10.38.
“I feel as though stages of the race were perfect,” he said.
“I’ve been practising that transition to the last 50 metres and I feel as though I’ll be a new athlete once I freshen up in the coming weeks.
“I’ve always had a big goal in mind to make the final at world juniors and so far there are no standout performances and once I’m in the final I feel it is game on.”
Hale has until the Monday, July 11 deadline to meet the Rio qualifier
He will next race in the Polish under-20 championships on Friday.
“I’ve got a lot of time still, three weeks to do the time, but limited races,” Hale said.
“It might end up I do the time after the qualifying period, we’ll see how it goes.”
It has been a productive year for Hale, who finished third in the lucrative Stawell Gift before going on to claim a silver medal in 10.40 at the Australian Athletics Championships in April.
Also on Saturday, King Islander Stewart McSweyn grabbed third place in the 3000m at the Kuortane Games in Finland.
McSweyn finished the race in a Tasmanian record and personal best time of 7 minutes and 54.43 seconds.
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
