An 11th-hour qualifier by a US-based Australian in the Belgian municipality of Heusden-Zolder has thwarted Stewart McSweyn’s world championship dream.
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Twenty-one-year-old University of Wisconsin undergraduate Morgan McDonald ran 5000 metres in 13:15.83 to leapfrog the King Islander in the pecking order for next month’s championships in London.
McDonald (NSW) and Rio Olympians Patrick Tiernan (Queensland) and Sam McEntee (Victoria) all passed the entry standard of 13:22.60 faster than McSweyn’s personal best of 13:19.98 set in Dublin two weeks ago.
McDonald’s run at the at the KBC Night of Athletics meet on Saturday came just hours before the IAAF cut-off date for world championship selection and, with only three spots available per nation for each event, squeezed out McSweyn.
Athletics Australia named its team of 48 on Tuesday and confirmed the 5000m spots had gone to McEntee, McDonald and Tiernan, who will also contest the 10,000m.
McDonald’s timely performance was particularly tough on McSweyn who had also narrowly missed out on selection to last year’s Olympic Games in his pet event, the 3000m steeplechase.
He is ready for the next step
- TIS coach Susan Andrews on Stewart McSweyn
The 22-year-old Tasmanian had remained a chance to reach London in the steeplechase.
Although he had not met the entry standard of 8:32.00, his PB of 8:34.25 set in Sweden in June, might have been considered sufficient as Australia had no other nominees for that event.
However, the Australian team announced contained no selections for the men’s steeplechase.
Tasmanian Institute of Sport athletics coach Susan Andrews had been hoping a roll-down procedure based on international rankings might earn McSweyn an invitation.
“We were just crossing our fingers so can only imagine what Stewy’s been doing because he’s been trying to get a steeple qualifier for a couple of years and only just missed the Olympics,” she said.
“He’s a real talent and it was no surprise that he got a qualifier although we thought it would be in the steeple.”
Andrews said she felt McSweyn deserved a shot at the big time.
“He’s ready to for a world champs, Olympics or Commonwealth Games. He ran the world cross-country championships earlier this year and is ready for the next step.
“Having four qualifiers for the 5000m and all very young is terrific for the future and it will be exciting to see them racing against each other.”
McDonald, who placed tenth over 5000m at the junior world championships in 2014, competed on the same bill as McSweyn when the Tasmanian clocked his 5000m qualifier at Dublin’s Morton Stadium on July 12.
Fellow Tasmanians Hamish Peacock (javelin), Josh Harris and Milly Clark (marathon) were already confirmed in Australia’s world championship team.