Donna MacFarlane has set herself
up for a strong performance in the
Women's 3,000m.
Momentum is building for Australia with three inspiring wins at the World Athletic Series meeting at Olympic Park, Melbourne.
Hobart’s Donna MacFarlane capitalised on her already impressive performances with a personal best time of 8 minutes 50.65 seconds in the Women’s 3,000m. Continually overshadowed by fellow Australian Benita Johnson, MacFarlane outran teammate Eloise Wellings and New Zealand’s Kate McIlroy, with Johnson finishing a disappointing seventh.
Mother of two MacFarlane was ecstatic with her performance and will return to Hobart to finish Games preparations before competition starts.
Recovering from a serious knee injury, Brisbane’s Bronwyn Thompson continued Australia’s success with an encouraging 6.91m in the Long Jump. As the Commonwealth record holder with a jump of 7m, this sets her up as a Games favourite.
After her performance, Thompson enthused she was looking forward to jumping a personal best in front of the Games crowd. "That’s where I perform best," she said.
Western Australia's Kym Howe also showed her class by taking the Pole Vault with a winning jump of 4.50m, outjumping defending Commonwealth Games champion Tatiana Grigorieva (4.30m) and Canadian Stephanie McCann (4.20m).
A confident Howell stated that if she could jump 4.50m she should be in the medals. “If the crowd can lift me beyond that, who knows?” she enthused.
Athletics competition begins at the MCG on Sunday 19 March and continues until 25 March.
To find out more about Trackand Field events at Melbourne 2006, visit the Athletics section on this Website.
Buy Athletics tickets now.