It was chilly, the wind was not still making conditions even more annoying, yet Bendere Oboya won the NSW Women's 400m Championship at Olympic Park in Homebush on Sunday, running the 2nd fastest time in the world this year!
She clocked a stunning 51.61sec.
Now, to put that in perspective, only Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the current Olympic 400m champion who was pipped for the gold at the most recent World Championships, has run faster.
And at just 20 years of age, a babe in the the sport for this distance, Oboya is the youngest 400m runner in the world in the top 30. And those times date back to the start of 2018!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMHPq6ppykk/?utm_source=ig_embed&This woman, who lives out west of Sydney, is a bonafide superstar in the making and when she ran past Annaleise Ruby, a former multiple Australian 400m champion and an Olympic 400m finalist, she looked every bit as good as what the experts in the sport think about her.
"She just needs competition and when she gets it, she performs like that," said her delighted coach John Quinn who made her run fast in both the semi-final and then the final.
"I'm happy doing that," said the rising star. "I ran 52.08sec in the semi and it was a hard run on Saturday, but to back up a day later and run in the 51s, just proves that John's program is working.
"In Tokyo I will need to run in the 51s in the semi and then back up even faster a day later in the final so we just replicated what will be needed. I'm not a fan of running slowly in semis and easing up anyway."
Such a refreshing attitude.
Oboya, who has not lost a race in three years to an Australian woman over 400m, despite being younger than all of them, is now a raging hot favourite to win the National Title in Sydney at this very track in a month's time.
That meet will serve as the Tokyo Olympic Games selection trials and all she has to do is win the race. She has already run an Olympic qualifying time and her spot on the team in the individual 400m, along with her spot as anchor in the women's 4 x 400m at the Games is assured.
What she is hoping to do at the national titles is break all Australian records, which, given that age and maturity govern how good you are at the gruelling 400m race, means she is aiming very high.
At present, she has run faster 400m times than all the all-time best five Aussie sprinters did at 20. That field, all legends of Australian athletics is: Cathy Freeman; Renee Poetschka, Maree Holland, Jana Pittman and Debbie Flintoff-King-King. Oboya's best of 51.21sec is a step behind their very best, but all of those women ran their times at major international meets when they were in their late 20s.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL_TMVYrhkh/?utm_source=ig_embed&Also behind Oboya on that famed list (when they were 20 year olds) are other names of note such as dual Olympic medallist and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Raelene Boyle, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nova Peris, 17 times National champion in two events, Tamsyn Lewis, former World Indoor 200m gold medallist Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and former Olympic 400m gold medallist Betty Cuthbert.
"And we know what we are doing at training is draining on her so she is not at her peak by any means," added Quinn.
Also at the NSW Titles, Rohan Browning continued his dominance in the sprinting ranks with a win in the 100m final clocking a fast 10.20sec. He is already the 3rd fastest Australian ever and he is getting faster as we approach Tokyo. Athletics NSW had set up a clock at the 100 yards mark too and during his 100m final, Browning clocked an Australian 100 yards record of 9.41sec.
This hadn't been done before so speculation rang out around the ground, assuming that if this clock had been placed during the runs of the great Pat Johnson, Matt Shirvington, Trae Williams and Josh Ross, in years gone by they too may have bettered the 100 yard mark.
Special mention must go to Monique Quirk who won both the 100m and 200m titles, her 200m time of 23.20sec making her one of the two fastest women in the country at present and that bodes well going forward as she is also only 20 years of age.
Next Saturday night at Olympic Park in Sydney, NSW will host the annual Sydney Track Classic.
In this, an Olympic year, it is expected all the top stars will ply their trade.
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