Day 4 - Hull shows class & Solomon shows fight
Published Tue 03 Aug 2021
The fourth day of the athletics program saw two stars from NSW take to the line - Jess Hull in the 1500m Heats and Steve Solomon looking to make his second Olympic 400m final.
Australian co-captain Steve Solomon (Penny Gillies) was set the challenge of backing up his blistering 400m personal best of 44.94 from the heats in the semi-final – a challenging prospect considering his interrupted preparation.
Solomon stopped the clock in an exceptional 45.15 to finish in third place of his semi-final and 13th place overall, a performance that he says he is happy with despite conceding his goal was to make the final.
“I wanted to make the final and I believed that I could. I executed well I just needed to run a little harder into the top turn but I’m still very happy to be in personal best shape,” he said.
Widely considered a great leader and contributor to Australian athletics, Solomon was quick to turn the attention to the team’s performance in the early stages of the athletics program at this year’s Olympic Games.
“We are having a phenomenal championship as a team, which is tremendously rewarding. I think it’s the right momentum that our team needs – it’s our largest team and it’s a very young team and we’re going to have great results which gives me a lot of joy,” he said.
“It’s got a great feel to it. We’re now looking for those medals; seeing is believing and the more times we can see it as a group, the more belief we can have in ourselves,” he said.
Earlier in the day it was Jessica Hull (Pete Julian) who delivered a clinical performances in her respective 1500m heat, progressing through to the semi-finals.
Hull was particularly impressive when safely navigating her heat to finish in second place and a time of 4:05.28 – a tactically perfect performance during which she covered the moves of her competitors to qualify with ease. Not only was Jess' race impressive, but her attitude towards the race, and the beaming smile crossing the line, has shown how much she's enjoying her debut Olympic experience so far.
TUESDAY 3rd AUGUST
Morning session
10:05am: Men’s 1500m Heat 1 - Oliver Hoare
10:16am: Men’s 1500m Heat 2 - Jye Edwards
10:20am: Women’s Javelin Qualifying Group A - Mackenzie Little
10:53am: Women’s 400m Heat 2 - Bendere Oboya
Night Session
8:26pm: Men’s 110m Hurdles Heat 2 - Nick Hough
9:16pm: Men’s 5000m Heat 2 - Morgan McDonald
The following article is adapted from Lachlan Moorehouse & Athletics Australia's "Riley's Big Day | Day Four Review"
For the full article, see the AA article here
