Day 2 - The Brilliance of Browning

It was a day that just kept getting better and better for our Australian team, and also for our NSW stars. Beginning with a wonderful performance by Sarah Carli, we saw Charlie Hunter advancing to the semi-finals at his debut Games, before Browning stopped Australia for 10.01 seconds, and created history.
 

Sarah Carli (Melissa Logan) officially became an Olympian when lining up in the women’s 400m hurdles heats, making her way around the track in a time of 56.93.

The result was never the defining factor of a successful campaign for Carli, who overcame a life-threatening injury in February to recover in time for the Tokyo Olympics.  

“I’ve had six weeks of full training and did my first race four weeks ago, so that time is quite good considering,” she said.

Despite that, the performance left the resilient Australian confident in her ability heading forward.

“When things like this happen it really makes you think about what’s important and for me it’s my athletics. Give me three years with that sort of mentally and I’ll see what I can do,” she said.

In an exclusive feature post-event interview, Sarah spoke to Athletics NSW from the athlete's village last night - jump onto the Athletics NSW Facebook Page to see what she had to say.
 

It was a challenging day for Australian co-captain and four-time Olympian Dani Stevens (Dennis Knowles) in the women’s discus qualifying, managing to throw 58.77m to finish in 22^nd place overall.

Stevens overcame significant adversity to earn her fourth Olympic tracksuit, rehabbing a career-threatening neck injury in time to be competitive at the Games. The 14-time national champion has been a terrific influence and resource for her Australian compatriots with a wealth of experience under her belt.


Charlie Hunter (Ben Thomas) traded the green and gold of Oregon University for the green and gold of Australia, soon following suit when progressing to the next round of the men’s 800m. Hunter stopped the clock in 1:45.91 but was checked and lost momentum at a key moment of the race – happy to progress despite the infringement.


Rohan Browning (Andrew Murphy) has been touted as Australia’s next great sprinting hope all season long, and if you had any doubts – he just ran 10.01 to win an Olympic 100m heat and topple Jamaican superstar Yohan Blake.

The time eclipses Matt Shirvington’s mark of 10.03 to make Browning the second fastest Australian man in history – only behind Patrick Johnson’s national record of 9.93.

The 23-year-old was far from surprised with the performance post-race after establishing himself on the world stage.

“I doubt a lot of those guys would have any idea who I am. I have been patient this year and I’ve been dying for world class competition,” he said.

“I thought I had one of the stiffest heats but you would rather do it the hard way because it’s more satisfying that way, and you have to front up to everyone at some stage anyway.”

The time is easily the fastest by an Australian at an Olympic Games and places him within reach of becoming the first Australian to make an Olympic 100m final since Hec Hogan in 1956.

Browning is set to compete in semi-final two at 8:23pm AEST on Sunday night, with the top two men in each heat and the next two fastest to progress to the Olympic final later that night.
 

What will have in store on Day 3?
 

Day 3 - Sunday 1st August

Morning Session

10:40am: Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Heat 1 - Georgia Winkcup

12:09pm: Men’s 400m Heat 4 - Steve Solomon

Night Session

8:10pm: Men’s High Jump Final - Brandon Starc

8:23pm: Men’s 100m Semi-Finals - Rohan Browning

9:25pm: Men’s 800m Semi-Final 1 - Charlie Hunter

10:50pm: Men’s 100m Final - Rohan Browning (if he is to advance)

The following article is adapted from Lachlan Moorehouse & Athletics Australia's "Roomies Deliver as Tiernan Becomes an Instant Hero"
For the full article, see the AA article here