ATHLETICS: Ryan Gregson has become the first Australian in 40 years to reach the men’s 1500m Olympic final.
On a memorable night for Australia at Rio’s Olympic Stadium, the 26-year-old ran the race of his life to finish third in his semi-final in a time of 3:40.02.
The 1500m is special race in the hearts of Australians.
Edwin Flack won it in 1896. So, too, Herb Elliott in 1960. John Landy won bronze in 1956.
But not since Graham Crouch, who finished eighth in 1976, had an Australian made the final.
Until tonight.
And didn’t Gregson do it style.
The Aussie, from Wollongong of the NSW south coast, was at the back of the field as the leaders started to sprint on the back straight.
Gregson kept his composure and form, then produced a blistering kick around the bend and stormed home down the outside to finish third and claim an automatic qualifying position.
It was the eighth fastest time across the two semi-finals.
“Making an Olympic final , if I was to retire tomorrow I’d feel like I’d been a success," Gregson said.
“After breaking the Australian record in 2010, it’s been a while between drinks before I’ve had a really, really good performance again, so that’s a lifetime achievement just there.
“I’m really happy to make the final but now I can do something big in two days’ time.”
It was a great night, too for Cedric Dubler, who finished 14th in the decathlon, a tremendous result in his first Olympics.
Dubler, the first Australian to contest the decathlon since Scott Ferrier at the Sydney 2000 Games, finished with a total of 8024 points.
Ashton Eaton of the USA won the gold medal with 8893 points.
Kevin Mayer of France won silver with 8834 points while Canada’s Damian Warner won bronze with 8666 points
No Australian has ever won an Olympic medal in the decathlon. Our best result was at the 1948 London Olympics, when Peter Mullins finished sixth.
David Taylor
olympics.com.au
