Coleman and MacFarlane to fly flag overseas
09 May 2008
Daniel Coleman and Donna MacFarlane will both be contesting their pet events this weekend at International competition.
On Friday night, Donna MacFarlane will run the 3000m steeplechase at the Doha Super Grand Prix in Qatar. It will be her first race over the distance since confirming her Olympic selection, after winning the Australian title in February.
Recent training has indicated that the TIS athlete is in the best shape of her career. She won this race last year comfortably, but is clearly looking to be pushed to faster times, as her personal best of 9.25.05 is still from that memorable night at the Commonwealth Games over 2 years ago. “I’ve won a lot of races, but haven’t raced a lot of races,” MacFarlane said recently.
After a rather public set-back last week, with the passing of her well respected coach Max Cherry, MacFarlane will be looking to move on towards greater things, which is how he would have wanted her to react.
The Gulf meeting has developed a reputation of producing stellar early season performances, including several sub 10sec 100m races by the men to world leading efforts in several events. This meet, will itself be used to promote Doha’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. For MacFarlane, she will be hoping it brings victory, a personal best, or both.
TIS State Performance Coordinator Peter Fortune is endeavoring to coordinate her program on the principles set by her late coach Max Cherry. “It’s been a difficult time for Donna recently, but I know she is focused on fulfilling her Olympic dream in the most positive way possible. We are committed to following the plans that Max had set for her and it is very gratifying to see the support that she is getting from the Tasmanian athletic community.”
On Saturday at 5pm AEST, Daniel Coleman will make his second appearance for Australia at the 23rd IAAF World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary, Russia.
As Australian champion in the 10km event, Coleman will head up the junior team, which also includes Rhydian Cowley (Vic) and Brendan Reading (ACT). The TIS athlete has spent the last couple of weeks training in London with the Australian team, including many of the open men and women who will be going onto the Beijing Olympics.
Fortune also sings the praises of the 19 year old. “Daniel is now attending his second world cup as a junior, although 2 years ago in Spain it was more a learning experience. This time he will be more competitive, has had a good preparation and it’s a great worthwhile step towards his path to being a top senior walker for Australia.”
More than 450 athletes from 55 nations will take part, which will give the committed Coleman a tremendous gauge of where he is at internationally. “Although disappointed to miss the world juniors narrowly, Daniel sees the world cup as a significant step in his career path towards full national representation.”