Tasmanian athletics talisman Stewart McSweyn said it was an honour to grace the athletics world championship 1500-metres final.
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Just weeks after recovering from the effects of long COVID, the 27-year-old King Islander backed up his seventh place finish in the Tokyo Olympic final with ninth in Eugene, Oregon.
"Yeah it was a tough night, the pace was on," McSweyn said.
"It was tough battling for spots most of the way and I found it hard to get on the rail for most of the guys.
"It was hard to get a good position. It was an honour to be in that final and I feel like I left it all out there."
The only Australian in history to break the famed 3:30 benchmark, McSweyn clocked a season best time of 3:33.24 in the final. It was the fastest ever by an Australian at world champs and the equal second highest place with Simon Doyle in 1993.
The first Tasmanian to reach an individual world championship track final, McSweyn's personal best and Australian record of 3:29.51, recorded a year ago in Monaco, would have earned bronze.
In a sensational finish to the 12-man race, Norway's Olympic champion and world record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:29.47) had to settle for silver as Brit Jake Wightman stormed home in 3:29.23. Spain's Mohamed Katir won the bronze.
Set to double up in the same event at the Commonwealth Games later this month, McSweyn won his heat in a season's best of 3:34.91 before clinching the last automatic spot in his semi-final when finishing fifth in 3:35.07.
Launceston-born, Melbourne-based McSweyn made his way around the outside of the star-studded field to sit third with three laps to go and gradually dropped back to be seventh at the bell.
McSweyn's next race will be at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium with his 1500m heat on Thursday, August 4, and the final scheduled two days later.