Rose Davies claims national 10,000m crown

Published Fri 29 Jan 2021

28 January 2021

Rose Davies claims national 10,000m crown

Not rated a medal prospect for the 2020/21 Australian 10,000m title, Newcastle’s Rose Davies, 21, won the event, held in conjunction with the Zatopek 10, in a stunning time of 31 minutes 39.97 seconds.

Coached by Rio Olympian Scott Westcott, Davies had to defeat the best domestic field ever assembled for the race.

"That was my first big win," she told AAP.

"I felt really good the whole race and with a kilometre to go I thought 'I've got this'. With 300 metres to go I put everything into it."

It has been a good summer already for Davies.

"I took more than a minute off my PB at Launceston in November and I'm not sure what I ran here, but I think I've taken another 20 or 25 seconds off my PB again," she said.

Although she was 15 seconds outside the qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics, a time only Victorian Ellie Pashley has achieved, Davies could earn selection through gaining enough ranking points in this race and over some 5000m events in 2021.

"I definitely think Tokyo is possible."

The statistics on her performance were impressive:

PB by 1 min 45.55 seconds
moves from #50 to #7 AUS all-time
Second fastest ever time by an Aussie in Australia
Second fastest time on Australian soil for 10 years
misses Olympic standard by 15 seconds
Fifth fastest time at Zatopek
Second fastest Aussie at Zatopek

Other highlights by NSW athletes were:

Strong second place by Jenny Blundell in the 1500m in 4:07.71
A win for Oceania champion, Sara Klein in the 400m hurdles
Second place overall, but first U20 in the Ondieki junior 3000m to Sarah Schiffmann
22 seconds PB for NSW’s Ed Goddard with fourth in the 10,000m 28:23.94
One minute PB for Tom do Canto in the 10,000m 28:35.69
PB for Lachlan Raper in the 800m 1:49.07
A strong second place for Drew Fryer in the de Castella junior 3000m clocking 8:21.27