Murphy soars to glorious gold

It was a golden day for the Australian UniRoos at the FISU World University Games, with New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Connor Murphy soaring to the top step of the podium in the triple jump while Benjamin Guse wrapped up an impressive decathlon campaign with a breakthrough global gold in the Decathlon on Day Six of competition.

Murphy (NSWIS, Andrew Murphy) rose to the occasion in the Men’s Triple Jump final, producing a leap of 16.77m (+1.2) on his fourth attempt to take gold in a high quality field.

The mark, his best of the season, secured Australia’s first field event victory of the Games, and saw him take victory by 11cm ahead of India’s  Chithravel who soared to 16.66m (+1.8) and Brazil’s Silva de Azevedo (16.35m, +1.5).

Producing six jumps over 16m, only 40cm separated his best jump from his shortest of the series, Murphy stayed in medal contention throughout the competition, underlining his growing reputation on the international stage Liam Glew (VIC) also contested  the event, but was unable to land a legal jump after three attempts.

In the decathlon, Guse (QLD, Annette Rice) pieced together a composed and consistent two-day campaign to also claim gold, finishing with a personal best total of 7918 points, as he continues his momentum towards the world-class 8000m mark.

Guse capped off his efforts with a 4:31.78 PB and a win in the 1500m, after strong performances in the pole vault (4.40m) and javelin (61.53m) as well a personal best of 43.92m in the discus throw in which he topped the leaderboard. He also finished second overall in the 110m hurdles with a personal best of 14.86 (-0.5). Guse’s gold medal win marked a massive moment for the Australian team, claiming the title of the world’s most versatile student-athlete.

Teammate Sebastian Reyneke (VIC, Steve Cain) impressed too on day two of competition, recording a PB in the 110m hurdles (14.86) and showing solid in the discus finishing third overall with a best throw of 42.47m, before his campaign concluded with a 12^th place finish in the 1500m in 4:57.97. Reyneke finished the decathlon in 14^th place, with a total point score of 6612.

Further action on the field saw Lara Roberts (QLD, John Frazier) placing ninth in the women’s hammer throw final, landing a best of 60.60m, while Australia’s javelin duo of NSWIS’s Lianna Davidson (NSW, Angus McEntyre, 55.95m) and Mia Gordon (QLD, Ben Thomson, 54.30m) placed seventh and eighth respectively in their final.

In the high jump, Alexandra Harrison (NSW, Matt Horsnell) cleared 1.81m to place sixth in the women’s final for another top-eight result for the team and NSWIS’s Desleigh Owusu (NSW, Andrew Murphy) placed second in her pool group in the Women’s Triple Jump, with a best landing of 13.54m (-0.4) finishing fourth overall, to set her up for an enticing last day final.

On the track, Jack Lunn (VIC, Steve Fabris) put in a determined effort in the men’s 800m semi-final, placing second in his heat in 1:47.32, securing an automatic berth for tomorrow’s final.  

Bronte Oates (NSW, Katie St Lawrence), backing up from her 10,000m PB earlier in the week, returned for the 5000m final, finishing 13th in 15:59.05, while Jonathan Harris (SA, Adam Didyk) placed 12^th in the Men’s 5000m final in 15:04.91.

Continuing the distance action on the roads,  a team of five flew the Australian flag in the Men’s Half Marathon, with Tom Bowers (VIC, David Lightfoot) leading the charge in 13^th place in 1:05.40. Helping to secure fourth in the team standings, the squad showed depth with Benjamin Beischer (VIC, David Lightfoot) finishing 14^th  just one second behind his training partner Bowers, whilst Ben Ludbrook (VIC, Toby Menday) crossed the line 20^th with a personal best of 1:06.31. Luca Di Conza (VIC, Steve Fabris) finished in 24^th in 1:06.55 and Connor Latouf (QLD, Jackson Elliot) rounded out the Australian results with 32^nd place in 1:08.32. In the Women’s Half Marathon, sole athlete Bianca Puglisi (VIC, Frances Lipscombe) placed 14^th in the 27-strong field, with a result of 1:17.09.

Rounding out the day, both Australian   advanced safely through the heats, finishing second in their respective races to progress to the finals, with a team of gold medallist Georgia Harris (QLD, Paul Pearce) NSWIS’s Kristie Edwards (NSW, Andrew Murphy), Olivia Inkster (NSW, Katie Edwards) and Jessica Milat (VIC, Cathy Woodruff) passing the baton around a lap of the track in 43.81 from Lane 7 to win their heat and finish second overall ahead of the final.

The Men’s team consisting of Joseph Ayoade (NSW, Greg Smith), Connor Bond (NSW, Mick ZIsti, NSWIS’s Christopher Ius (NSW, Andrew Murphy) and Aidan Murphy (SA, Nik Hagicostas) finished second in their heat in 39.50.

Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics