NSW 5000m Championships: Blundell’s back

11 February 2024

NSW 5000m Championships: Blundell’s back

Finishing her first track race in nearly two years, dual Olympian Jenny Blundell has held off Paige Campbell by four seconds to claim the NSW women’s 5000m championships at Homebush last night. In the men’s race it was a wall of runners at the finish, with Ethan Wyatt-Smith taking the win.

A Rio Olympic 1500m semi-finalist, Jenny Blundell graduated to the 5000m for the Tokyo Games, nailing the qualifier with just days to spare. Injuries have hampered the talented runner who has been winning State titles and breaking records from early on in her career which started in under-6s.

Last night at Homebush in torrential rain, Jenny and her Sydney University team mate, Paige Campbell, ran side-by-side until the bell. They had clocked laps of 75-76 seconds until two laps to go when they dropped a 73 split on the penultimate lap. From the bell, Jenny took charge clocking 67 for the last lap, to Paige’s 71. They were rewarded with impressive times of 15:40.48 and 15:44.64, respectively, in the atrocious conditions.

In third and fourth, interstate teenage visitors clocked World U20 Championships. World cross country representative, Gabrielle Schmidt (QLD) clocked 16:23.46, from Victorian Piper Gay with 16:27.86 – both under the 16:30.00 standard.

The men’s race was a close battle and very tactical race in the drenching rain. In the end Bankstown’s Ethan Wyatt-Smith held off Randwick-Botany’s Stefan Music 14:19.32 to 14:19.70. The field was lined up behind them with just a few seconds separating the first seven athletes. The bronze was claimed by Run Crew’s Ciaran Rushton, who 12 months ago was wearing the green and gold at the world cross country championships in Bathurst.

David Tarbotton For Athletics NSW
Images: Jenny Blundell and Ethan Wyatt-Smith (images courtesy of Fred Etter)