Rio Olympic finalist Ryan Gregson began 2017 by becoming the first man in 50 years to win the handicap mile race at the Burnie Gift from scratch.
The New Year’s Day carnival in Burnie, Tasmania, has been running for 130 years and it has been half a century since anyone has run as well there over the mile. Harold Downes, the first professional runner to break the four-minute mile in 1963, was the last man to accomplish the feat in 1967.
Gregson had to make up a handicap of up to 300m on the front markers over four minutes on the grass track on a windy night in Tasmania.
In Rio, the VIS athlete revived memories of Australia’s former glory years over the mile, when he became the first Australian in 40 years to reach the men's 1500m final. He now hopes to contend for a medal at the world championships in London in August this year.
Olympic 400m semi finalist Morgan Mitchell has also shown outstanding early form in Tasmania. She backed up wins in the Latrobe Gift over 120m and the Devonport Gift over 400m with a second place in Burnie over 120m, falling narrowly short of a historic treble.
