Tasmanian Stewart McSweyn has stormed into his first world championship final.
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In a dominant performance on the opening day of the titles in Doha, Qatar, the sole Tasmanian in the national team produced what Athletics Australia described as "a ripper of a performance" in the men's 5000 metres heats.
McSweyn finished in a solid fourth place to progress to Tuesday morning's final with a time of 13:20.58.
It was the fastest time by an Australian after Morgan McDonald clocked 13:26.80 for eighth spot in the first heat with Pat Tiernan finishing 10th in 13:28.42.
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"It felt good," said the 24-year-old King Islander, who firmly believes he can go faster in the final.
"There's always a lot of good guys in any heat so it's never easy. My aim was to get in that top five and you never want to leave it to chance, so I looked around when I was in fourth and new I wasn't going to get run down, so I was able to slow down a little bit. Hopefully that means I've got another gear come the final."
The 5000m final will be at 9.20pm on Monday evening which is 4.20am on Tuesday (Tastime).
Launceston-born McSweyn has shifted his focus to a 1500m and 5000m double having competed in the 5000 and 10,000m at last year's Commonwealth Games.
After the 5000m final, he will enjoy a three-day break before the 1500m heats from 5am on Friday , October 4 (Tastime) with the semi-finals the following day at 3.05am and the final on Monday, October 7 at 2.40am.
McSweyn was eliminated in the 3000m steeplechase heats at his only previous world titles in London two years ago.
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