Ryan Gregson has become the first Australian in 40 years to reach the men’s 1500m Olympic final.
Gregson ran the race of his life to finish third in his semi-final in a time of 3:40.02.
The Aussie was at the back of the field as the leaders started to sprint on the back straight. He 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.
Javelin
Kathryn Mitchell was just 44cm behind winning a bronze medal in the women’s javelin competition.
The dual Olympian performed well and was in early medal contention in the final before finishing a creditable sixth.
Mitchell was in second place behind Russian Sunette Viljoen after her second throw of 64.36 metres – which was 2.73m better than her qualifying mark.
However, four other opponents lifted their efforts while Mitchell’s next best was her last of 63.02m, with three unsuccessful attempts.
It was an improvement on Mitchell’s previous Olympic campaign, in London in 2012, when she also made the final, finishing ninth.
Shot Put
Damien Birkinhead tried valiantly to match a hot field in the final of the men’s shot put but could not attain his previous best and finished in 10th postion.
Birkinhead heaved a throw of 20.50m on his first attempt, in the 12-man final.
He fouled with his second and threw 20.02m in his final throw, short of his goal of breaking the national record of 21.26 held by his coach Scott Martin, or improving on his qualifying mark of 20.50m.
Only the top eight of the final 12 continued, throwing three more times. Birkinhead finished 10th.
