Nelson flies to London qualifier

NSWIS athlete Ella Nelson has made the best possible start to her Australian athletics season by clocking a world championship qualifier at the Summer of Aths Grand Prix in Canberra.

Nelson flew through the women’s 200m in 23.00 to record the fastest time by an Australian in the event this year. A win at the Australian Athletics Championships in the event at the end of the month will secure her passage to the 2017 IAAF Athletics World Championships in London.

“I was so nervous, my two biggest fears are flying and opening up my season and I’ve done both this week after coming back from the States earlier this week. I’m glad to have ticked the box, got the qualifier and now for Nationals,” Nelson said to Athletics Australia after the win.

“I try to trick myself into thinking that I haven’t just flown long haul, but I’m not sure how it is going because that was hard. Hopefully, by the Australian Championships I’ll be more settled in and ready to run a fast time at home in Sydney.

“The first race is always the unknown. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you’ve put in a lot of work and you just hope. I really wanted a little bit quicker, but I’m not getting caught up in that.”

Adding to the NSWIS success was Paralympic gold medallist James Turner setting a new world record in the men’s T36 400m. Turner clocked 12.99 to blitz his opposition, also setting a world championship A-qualifier ahead of the London event later this year.

Olympian Michelle Jenneke was also in form despite missing a world championship qualifier by 0.01 seconds, winning the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.99, while Dani Stevens easily secured a world championship A-qualifier after a throw of 64.79m in the women’s discus.