Results: 1998 Lake Burley Griffin Race Walk Carnival
7 June 1998Canberra, ACT
Summary
New Zealand champion Craig Barrett slashed Nick A'Hern's course record in winning the 32nd Annual LBG 20 miles championship held on the hilly cycle path around Lake Burley Griffin (Canberra) on Sunday.
Barrett defeated Australian Institute of Sport based Victorian athletes Nathan Deakes, Dion Russell and Duane Cousins to finish in 2hr 19min 37sec (averaging 4min 20sec per kilometre).
Barrett, who repped at the Atlanta Olympics, was ranked second in the Commonwealth over 50km (behind Australian champion Dion Russell) must now be strong favourite to win the Commonwealth Games 50km title in Malaysia in September.
Nathan Deakes, a medallist at the 1996 world junior championships in Sydney, also broke A'hern's course record. Deakes has quickly established himself as a potnetial national representative since receiving an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in Canberra last year. He recorded a Commonwealth Games qualifying time over the 20km distance in Germany last month and following yesterday's outstanding performance is considered certain to be added to the team.
Outstanding young teenager Michelle French (NSW) won the open women's 5,000 defeating Regal Club athletes Natalie Saville and Jane Saville. French, winner of the Australian under-18 and under-20 track championships in March recorded 22m 6 sec. This was 14 seconds faster than last year's winning time.
French, who turned 16 years old in April, is in the Australian team to compete in the World Junior (under 20 years) Chamionships in France. On yesterday's form she could gain selection in the Commonwealth Games team with Kerry Junna-Saxby and Jane Saville.
Kerry Junna-Saxby, who watched the race, was unable to start owing to a knee injury. She is hopeful of resuming training later this week in preparation for the defence of her Commonwealth Games title in September.
Junna-Saxby said: 'I was pleased with my form in clocking 43 minutes for the 10km in Germany last month when I finished fourth against the world's best, but I injured my knee while on a training run a few days later.
'I was three kilometres from home when I felt the pain in my knee and kept running. I should have stopped running and walked back - as I couldn't straighten my knee after the run.
'I had increased my training distance too much after hearing how far my opponents were training. All major international walk championships will be held over 20 kilometres instead of 10,000, from the first of January and I thought I should be doing more mileage (against the advice from my coach).
'I will restrict my weekly distance to no more than 120 kilometres in future. The doctor said I can start walk training later this week but will be unable to run for a while.
'I am going to just focus on the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games and worry about the new 20km distances after that.'
Results
Results of major walks events at the 32nd Lake Burley Griffin (LBG) Carnival held on Sunday 7 June and organised by the ACT Race Walking Club on behalf of the Australian Federation of Racewalk Clubs.
20 miles: 1 Craig Barrett (NZ) 2hr 19m 27s; 2 Nathan Deakes (Vic) 2 hr 21m 50s; 3 Dion Russell (Vic) 2hr 26m 14s.
Men's 10 miles: 1 Dave Smith (Qld) 77m 20s; K Knox (NSW); P Blood (Prov).
Veteran 10 Miles: 1 Bob Gardiner (Vic) 89m 28s; 2 R Reid (Vic); 3 G Major (Prov).
Women's 10 Miles: 1 Linda Coffee (NSW) 78m 47s; 2 Cheryl Webb (NSW); 3 Theresa Leatherby (Qld) 85m 51s.
Women's 5 kms: 1 Michelle French (NSW) 22m 6s; 2 Natalie Saville (Regal) 23m 7s; 3 Jane Saville (Regal) 23m 39s.
Open Men's 10 kms: 1 Andrew Mitchell (NSW) 58m 47s; 2 Bob Chapman (ACT) 59m 1 s; 3 G Page (NSW).
Men's Under 20 years: 10 kms: 1 Liam Murphy (SA) 43m 28s; 2 Mat Golebiowski (Regal) 44m 48s; 3 Warren Russell (NSW) 45m 23s.
Men's Under 17: 5 kms: 1 Chris Erickson (Vic) 23m 21s; 2 D Vellis (NSW) 23m 42s; 3 S Wilson (Regal) 23m 52s.
Boy's Under 15: 3 kms: 1 K Harply (NSW) 14m 5s; 2 T Wells (Qld) 14m 29s; 3 C Clifford (NSW)14m 58s.
Girl's Under 15: 3kms: 1 Lisa McIlvenie (NSW) 14m 32s; 2 Y Becker (SA) 14m 56s; 3 A Dickson (Qld) 15m 0s.
Boy's Under 12: 2kms: 1 J White-Spiers (Vic) 10m 23s; 2 N Rowe (Regal) 11m 5s; 3 M Erickson (Vic) 11m 26s.
Girl's Under 12: 2 kms: 1 K Corbett(NSW) 10m 46s; 2 Jillian Hosking (ACT) 11m 11s; 3 Peta Gough (NSW) 11m 20s.
Key: ACT = Australian Capital Territory; NZ = New Zealand; Vic = Victoria; NSW = New South Wales; Regal = A Club in NSW; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Prov = Combined country clubs in Vic.
Judging Analysis
There were 18 judges officiating at the Carnival, with panels of between 5, 6 and 7 judges. IAAF judge Jill Huxley was Chief for several races, including the women's 5 kms. The judges came from New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Queensland.
107 of the 239 competitors received at least one warning (previously known as 'cautions') or a disqualification call. There were 13 disqualifications when athletes received three or more DQs.
There were 92 warnings and 87 DQs for knees. There were 38 warnings and 52 DQs for contact.
(It's not a case that walkers necessarily infringe the 'knee' section of the IAAF rule more than 'contact'. I think it's the case that judges find it easier to judge 'knees'. Research has shown that judges tend to under-report contact, and over-report knees.)
In regard to the 139 DQs, almost half (64) were preceded by a warning.
For the first time we had a category for 'fun and fitness walkers'. The way the organisers dealt with them was to have a green background to their race number ('bibs' as the Americans call them). The judges judged them, the same as anyone else but the Chief simply tallied the calls, not applying the three or more DQ ruling. They were ineligible for the racewalk awards.
I will have to drag out last year's statistics to make some comparisons but my personal impression is that some walkers are concentrating a great deal on conditioning and are forgetting that racewalking is a combination of endurance and technique. Athletes should seize every opportunity to walk in front of different panels and obtain feedback on their technique.
In her report to the Walking Federation meeting Jill Huxley indicated that the IAAF is conducting a judging reassessment activity among existing IAAF-qualified judges. No progress has apparently been made on attempts by Australian representatives at the international level to change the discriminatory ruling that you have to be under 50 years of age to commence the process for IAAF accreditation in walks judging. (I didn't realise that being over 50 you are regarded as senile ;-)
Results from Denis Strangman.
