Patterson’s gold medal has two bonuses

Eleanor Patterson’s gold medal performance at the  Hustopečské skákání meet in Czechia provided the Aussie athlete with a double bonus.

Patterson’s impressive leap of 1.96m was bang on for her to qualify for the World Indoor Athletics Championships that will be held in Poland this March, while she easily cleared the 1.92m qualifying mark required for July’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Patterson, the 2022 world champion and 2024 Olympic bronze medallist, performed strongly at the indoor high jump competition.

The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder finished three centimetres above second placed Lamara Distin of Jamaica as well as Germany’s Imke Onnen who finished third on countback.

Patterson will compete in the Beskyd Bar meet in Czechia tomorrow, and then the  Banksa Bystrica meet in Slovakia on February 24.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old NSWIS scholarship holder Delta Amidzovski performed strongly at the Australian Athletics Short Track Championships, winning the long jump with 6.41m (+0.2) over Victoria’s Brooke Buschkuehl. Amidzovski finished second to season campaigner Michelle Jenneke in the 60m hurdles.

Daniel Lane, NSWIS